First Day of Spring

Today is the Vernal Equinox. On this first day of spring, the sky was a brilliant blue with nary a cloud to be seen. The morning air was cold with a temperature of -8 degrees celcius. Brrr!

A nor'easter is predicted for tomorrow so I made sure that the feeders had plenty of seed. I recently heard that birds can sense a storm coming, and that activity at the feeders explodes in advance of one. The feeders have been busy today, but no more than usual. Lots of chickadees, pine siskins, and goldfinches.

The afternoon delivered much warmer temperatures which made spending time outside photographing my visitors much more enjoyable. Feeling the warmth of the sun on my face was delightful.

Friendly downy woodpecker,
March 20, 2016, Nova Scotia Canada

As I was examining two of the dead trees that had fallen, a male downy woodpecker appeared. He cooperated, scurrying down the tree to greet me. Sharing the tree was a friendly chickadee who flew over to greet me. Its behaviour made me think s/he may have been trying to prevent me from getting close to a nest. It almost seemed to be saying, "Follow me" as it led me away.

Black-capped chickadee, March 20, 2016, Nova Scotia, Canada