Got up this morning and the thermometer on the porch said -4° F. That's four below zero. As in COLD. Brrrr! It seemed all the colder since we just returned from 10 days in South Texas, where it was +80° F.
We had a great time down in Texas. (I personally find it amusing that the Upper Valley refers to our section of the Connecticut River, while the Lower Valley refers to the last hundred miles or so of the Rio Grande.) Our inspiration for the trip was to find the specialty birds that we missed in spring of 2001. We figured that there were about a dozen or so of these, and as it turned out we saw nine of them! Actually, we saw a tenth, the Groove-billed Ani, but it was on the Mexican side of the river and refused to cross to the countable U.S. shore. If we don't see it in the U.S. or Canada, it doesn't count for the primary listing area of the American Birding Association.
The other attraction of South Texas to us is the butterflying. At -4° there aren't any butterflies flying up here, but at 80° there are lots of them active down there. We identified about 70 species while we were down there, about half of them new. I got to photo many of them, and I'm in the process of putting the photos on this website. Keep your eyes on my butterfly lifelist for links to new photos!
I had just put up the metal squirrel-proof bird feeder before we went to Texas, after repairing the bear damage, but when we got back the bear had torn it down again, causing fresh damage. So I banged it back into shape and put it back out there yesterday. I guess the squirrels don't get to steal the seeds if the bear beats them to it!
Now we're home and trying to catch up on holiday stuff and housecleaning and winter preparations. The wood is stacked and the woodstove is toasty.
Best wishes for joy-filled holidays and a wonderful new year!
Peace,
Terry
12/9/02