Two weeks ago the curbs were thick with crusted snow and the front yards of houses were deep in snow. Then, over the next few days, things started to melt. Grass was seen at the base of trees and on the slopes of south facing hills. Well, not green grass, of course. No, the brown of winter-kill grass. But at least it wasn’t snow.
Then, during the last week, with temperatures in the teens and occasional rain, the snow disappeared. I can look out my window and the only spots of white that I see is a bubble over a set of tennis courts. And as the snow melted away, so did the Snow Buntings. Well, I hope they didn’t melt too, but they have been making their way back to their breeding grounds in the high arctic. Actually, the males should be setting up territories by now, even though they are living through -30° weather and can barely find grass among the snow.
But they have adapted to wide open areas in the cold latitudes. One of the problems with global warming is that it does not occur evenly across the globe but tends to be much more noticeable towards the poles. The breeding grounds of Snow Buntings is being overgrown by woodier plants (scrub willows and the like) and the slightly warmer weather allows more species to thrive… including more predators. Which means that in my lifetime the numbers of Snow Buntings, which I used to see every winter and now only occasionally see, have dropped by 64%.
5 comments:
Out on the farm, we were blessed with many snow buntings this winter - a most charming bird, as you know, that would flit across the laneway as we drove past. Being the first year on the farm, we have no way of comparing them to former numbers, but have never previously noted them as the common bird of winter.
g
They are definitely a bird of open fields and are usually found in winter in farmers' fields. So I don't think your place in Nova Scotia or British Columbia would have had many for you to see. And your place in Quebec seemed more like it was nestled in woodlots than wide open farms.
And welcome to my blog, g!
Geez, "G" never posts on MY blog!! You should be honoured. :) Of course, he's featured on my blog so often he probably doesn't need to comment.
Btw, we have gray partridges here. As I understand it, they are introduced; is that right? "Hunting leftovers" so to speak. They run around the fields and eat the seeds under our feeders. Very cute, and the previous owner told me their chicks visit in spring.
And I am sure I saw a northern harrier flying alongside the car as we drove along the St. Lawrence in Cornwall. I got a very good look at it. Would they also be the white/grey raptors I was seeing hunting low in our fields last year? I suck at raptor i.d.!
Yup. Grey and white raptor hunting low over the fields? That's a male northern harrier. The female would be brown and the first year birds are also brown (but a bright cinnamon underneath).
But.
I must say that I am extremely jealous of your partridges. What do you do to attract them? Do you have a pear tree on the premises?
And yes, Gray Partridge, Chukar, Ring-necked Pheasant. All are introduced game birds.
Yes! Hunts very low over the fields, which was what helped me I.D. (with of course my library o' bird books!) I will keep my eyes peeled for more.
The partridges are adorable. I noticed them eating the seed under our feeders, but no doubt they like the things in our fields, as they were here before we moved in (according to the former owner). He said that he used to see the chicks running up the laneway in spring! I am looking forward to that.
No pear tree, but we want to plant one! Partridges welcome!
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