Hairy Woodpecker

We are now, once again, living in a white world. This male Hairy Woodpecker was busy finding food yesterday morning - makes you really feel for the birds, especially the smaller ones, when they do their best to survive in such weather conditions.

Normally, I'm sure I would have stayed home yesterday morning, but I hadn't been able to get over to Fish Creek Park for two days and I knew I was going to be without my car till later today (getting my very first set of snow tires put on). Only two other people were there, waiting and watching, hoping to see the Long-tailed Weasel. No sign at all, though a friend who had arrived just as the rest of us were leaving, said she saw it for one very brief second under a log. No sign of any Meadow Voles, either. Apparently, a Northern Goshawk had swooped down over the Weasel yesterday (or the day before), which was not good news. Anyway, I was happy to see this beautiful Hairy Woodpecker, so the morning was not a wasted effort.

This morning (28 November 2014), the temperature is -19C (windchill -31C). Snow for the rest of today and at least part of tomorrow. It will drop to -22C tonight (windchill -33C) and is expected to be the same tomorrow morning. After that, it should gradually warm up over the next few days.