The snow started in earnest around 9:30 this morning, about three hours earlier than predicted. The street in front of our house was covered in a matter of 20 minutes. My guess is that about 3 or 4 inches have fallen so far, but now we’ve transitioned into stinging sleet pellets that are coming down at a pretty good clip. The bags have held on the trees, but I did have to run outside twice now to add some clothespins to a few them because the winds have picked up considerably.
When the flakes started flying I went from a handful of birds to scores. The biggest surprise was two Fox Sparrows that came out of nowhere and began attacking the snow under the feeders by jumping back and forth and making holes to find seeds. When I looked for them again about 30 minutes later, I could barely make out the tail of one of the birds sticking out of a pile of snow over his head.
While clearing a path to the feeders with a shovel late this afternoon, I was startled by a lump of snow that came alive. A jet-black vole popped out of the snow I tossed and began waddling toward some shrubs. I apologized for disturbing his shelter.
I just finished the book Winter World. It’s amazing how insects, birds, mammals and other creatures survive the harsh winter conditions. You can be standing outside and see or hear nothing, but rest assured the winter landscape is alive with critters (like the vole that was taking refuge under the blanket of snow). Unfortunately, ice is an animal’s worst enemy in winter. It’s especially deadly for birds.
The sleet pellets continue to smack the windows here, but the current forecast is still calling for it to change to freezing rain with up to a half-inch of ice accumulation. The latest National Weather Service update says “Travel conditions will become nearly impossible” and “Preparations for power outages should have already been made.” I have plenty of batteries, blankets and candles. But more importantly, one needs chocolate in a situation like this, so this afternoon I made some evil triple-chocolate brownies. I’m as ready as I can be.