Weather Change

Locally, as the winter weather gives to spring weather, we have days where the warm air is a welcome relief from cold, damp conditions, and days where the cold returns for a short time. It plays havoc on sinuses and leads to some interesting observations.

Yesterday, robins filled the yard. With rain, and warm air, insects were emerging. Included were earthworms escaping the water, and the feast continued all day. The robins will soon leave, and only a few will stay for the coming summer.

Today, unusual visitors visited. Usually miles to the south, I'm guessing the heavy rain yesterday, and bitter cold a few weeks ago, led to a reduction in food at their usual habitat by the coast. A cold front came during the night, and this morning I found the visitors. The visitors? Boat Tail Grackles.

Boat tails are usually found near the coast. They closely resemble the great tail grackle, but are smaller, and the tail of the male is noticeably different. Their behavior is similar, and their calls are almost identical, but it's obvious they rarely cohabitate the same locations.

The crackles are helping our chickens with their morning scatter of feed. I'll have to add more during the day, since the flock of grackles is fairly large, and it's obvious they are hungry. They'll move on during the day, and tomorrow there might not be any to be found.