Remembering a winter day

Yesterday, 15 March 2016, it snowed very lightly for maybe two minutes and that was it. That's the kind of snow I don't mind at all, though it did make me wonder what I was going to be driving into, on my drive NW of the city. The roads were clear until closer to my destination. There, the gravel roads were snow-covered and not the greatest to drive on, and you had to be very careful not to get too close to the edge of the road.

Anyway, this photo, taken on 28 December 2015, reminds me that we DID have snow this winter, in between all the glorious, mild days. It was taken during the annual Audubon Cochrane Wildlife Reserve Christmas Bird Count. The area that my small group of seven people, in two cars, covered was N of Cochrane and E of Highway 22, very roughly across from the Water Valley area. Though the word 'Reserve' is in the name, this count was like most others, driving all the country backroads and calling in at several farms. The weather was bad, with poor light and gently falling snow pretty well all day long. Thanks so much, Stephen, for driving the four of us safely!

I love Llamas! This is one of several seen at one of the farms we called in at. Each animal is so different and I can't help but smile at their faces.

"Llamas appear to have originated from the central plains of North America about 40 million years ago. They migrated to South America and Asia about 3 million years ago. By the end of the last ice age (10,000–12,000 years ago) camelids were extinct in North America. As of 2007, there were over 7 million llamas and alpacas in South America and, due to importation from South America in the late 20th century, there are now over 100,000 llamas and 6,500–7,000 alpacas in the US and Canada." From Wikipedia.

I will add our leader's report for this day's count below. Not a huge number of species, with a Pileated Woodpecker being the highlight, plus so many Snow Buntings.

"The day was overcast, light snow most of day, calm, -09°C. 20 cm snow on ground. Most streams frozen over.

Total Party kms by Car - 84; Total Party kms by foot – 2km.
Total Party hours by Car – 3; Total Party hours by foot -2 hrs
Total Party hours feeder watching – 1:40 min.

Rough-legged Hawk-1
Rock Pigeon-4
Downy Woodpecker-10.
Hairy Woodpecker-3
PILEATED WOODPECKER-1
Black-billed Magpie- 19
Common Raven- 18
Black-capped Chickadee- 41
Red-breasted Nuthatch- 3
White-breasted Nuthatch-1
American Tree Sparrow-7
Dark-eyed Junco-1
Snow Bunting-3550
Pine Grosbeak-25
White-winged Crossbill-15
Common Redpoll-1811
House Sparrow-106

Red Squirrel-2"