Winter is over;

[slowcoach]

for the swallows have returned.

[auntieannie]

not here yet... but thank you for bringing hope to cold potters.

[canadian123]

10-12 more weeks of winter here!

[mapletree3]

It's not even close to being over here, thanks for the image of swallows returning though.

[Peromyscus]

Thanks for the golondrinas. We just had 30 cm of snow, so spring is still far away.

[happytraveller]

I heard a black bird sing yesterday morning. It feels like spring is just around the corner. I hope so ! Had a very mild winter so far, it might make up for the long and cold winter we had last year

[Baz Faz]

Last week we saw what Mrs Faz said were house martins.

[Scrubb]

We are very far from the end of winter, but

a) it probably won't be -40 again this year; and
ii) the sun has so much more warmth than it did a month ago! Walking outside at lunch is really pleasant again; and
3) it is light before 8:30 and stays light until past 6 p.m.(at home; not quite that late up here at work)

so things are looking up!

[Peromyscus]

Today it hit 10C. Tonight it could snow 5 or more cm. Monday morning it could be -9C. Next Friday it looks to be 18-20C.

Roller coaster!

[Voy]

thank god I'm here in Fla.. at home they are getting roughly 6-10inches every other day!

[auntieannie]

snort! I SO read that wrong, Voy!

[Peromyscus]

Really. :-O

[Scrubb]

Heh heh. We know where annie's mind is!

The only birds around here are still ravens. No spring yet.

[Peromyscus]

I've heard Barred Owls for the past three nights. Not tonight though, it was pretty windy and I was working in the basement, getting caught up after all the shoveling yesterday and Thursday.

[auntieannie]

oh, I've seen a small bird yesterday that you birders might be to identify?

It's small and its head and body is greyish brown or brownish grey. its tail long and thin and yellow, particularly the underside. the top of the tail was kind of stripy? I don't remember seeing one of these before here.

[Scrubb]

That sounds like an LBJ, annie.

[auntieannie]

um.... what's an LBJ?

[canadian123]

supposed to be +2c on Friday..... we are melting!!

[Scrubb]

Feb 16, 2014 17:30:07 GMT 2 auntieannie said:

um.... what's an LBJ?

I'll let Pero answer that.

[sophie]

Around here, LBJ are in the same category as Oreo ducks!

When encountering small brown birds which move quickly making it difficult to tell them apart, they are (in fun) called little brown jobs..thus LBJ. We get quite a few water fowl in black and white configurations..thus Oreo ducks.

[auntieannie]

oh... I found it! I found it! it's a grey wagtail - male, I think.


In this illustration, it looks really like what I saw yesterday. and its habits correspond to what I saw.
www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greywagtail/index.aspx

[OnlyMark]

Feb 16, 2014 17:14:30 GMT 2 auntieannie said:

It's small and its head and body is greyish brown or brownish grey. its tail long and thin and yellow, particularly the underside. the top of the tail was kind of stripy? I don't remember seeing one of these before here.

Unusual to see one of those Annie. It's a native of Mexico and known there as the 'tortilla bird' because when a tortilla is viewed sideways on it looks like its tail. The colouring of the body can be dark enough to look like re-fried beans, thus beans on a tortilla. The Latin name for is is Etfabam etpanem. It's a very good swimmer and is a distant relative of the South American penguin, genetically virtually a match for the Chilean penguin. The females are known to take several mates and are highly intelligent compared to the male. It must have been blown off course by the changes in the jet stream or if was was female, just got lost anyway. They tend to have a poor sense of direction and location.
Was it making a lot of noise? Twittering etc? Typical female behaviour to chat away about nothing particular or more than likely it was at least asking the way. The males don't do that.
I've notified the twitchers society that there is one in the country so expect some people in anoraks calling on you to get the exact location.

They may need a parking space or two.

[auntieannie]

nia nia nia.... you sending your Cairo cats around?

[slowcoach]

We have had a warm sunny day.

Of late the wild flowers have moved on from all yellows or whites to include the purple ones; fumitory, geranium, red dead nettle, bugle, and campion. The frogs are going crazy, the toads and lizards are becoming animated, and the storks are on their nest. Some of these start happening when it is still rather wintery, and bees buzz and butterflies flit, all through the cold months. So one would be pushed to say when Spring starts but the swallows do perhaps mark the end of Winter.

[itsasmallworld1]

We are having a perfect day and it is hightime you send winter this way!
Starting to believe Northerners are hoarders of snow and cold weather!

[happytraveller]

I spent about an hour outside in the sun in my hammock, the dog sleeping in my arms. Bliss !

[shrjeff]

i thought that you were going to let the dog walk on his own

[itsasmallworld1]

26C &9999999999% humidity! BRING THE SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Peromyscus]

Gray/Grey Wagtail is what it sounded like to me when I read annie's inquiry post.

LBJ=little brown job which is a term for look-alike sparrows and finches and other dull-colored birds such as many European warblers.

More snow for us tonight, and maybe in a week. Winter is not over for us.

[auntieannie]

Anybody read that article about the jetstream and its influence of our "stuck" weather?