Happy Winter Solstice

Happy Winter,
It's almost the solstice, the sun's furthest journey south in our sky. Although Americans consider it the beginning of winter, I prefer the old European tradition of thinking of December 22nd as mid-winter. After all, it is the longest night of the year and sunlight increases daily after winter solstice.
"In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago."
words by Christina Rossetti 1872, music by Gustav Holst 1906
to hear the melody, listen to: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/n/intbleak.htm

Well, to my senses our beginning of winter has been anything but bleak! Gorgeous long snowfalls, gigantic icicles, both snow deep enough and ice thick enough to glow blue, and winter birds galore! Attached is a short article I wrote about the amazing adaptations allowing our feathered friends to endure winter. Brew yourself a nice hot cup of cocoa, stoke up the fire and discover their amazing tricks.

We've had magnificent invasions of northern finches, indicating a poor cone crop in Canadian forests. Click on the links below to see photos of these avian invaders and then watch for them at your feeders!
Pine Grosbeaks, especially fond of crab apples, but eat sunflower seed too. Be sure to listen to their sweet song. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Pine_Grosbeak_dtl.html#sound

Redpolls, goldfinch size with red caps, black "gotee" and males with red blushed chest. Common redpolls are the "house sparrows" of the north. When I lived in Anchorage, AK that's just how abundant they were! http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Common_Redpoll.html#sound

Male redpoll next to male pine grosbeak for size: http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/data/525/622Closeup_Pine_Grosbeak_and_Redpoll_Nov2_03.jpg

Evening Grosbeaks robust, talkative birds that travel in big noisy flocks. The males are washed with a dark gray "evening shadow", but these birds reputedly got their moniker from the mistaken belief that they sang at night (well in the far north summers they do!). I especially love the adult males with their striking brilliant banana yellow under tail coverts and bright "eyebrows". I call them "flying banana superheros".
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Coccothraustes-vespertinus-002.jpg/800px-Coccothraustes-vespertinus-002.jpg

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Evening_Grosbeak.html#sound

Red Crossbill http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Red_Crossbill.html

White-winged Crossbill http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/White-winged_Crossbill.html

These wacky birds look like mutants with deformed bills, but they use their tweezer-shaped beak to pry open cone bracts and then stick out their tongues to get the tasty pine or spruce seed. Conifer seeds are so important to crossbills that they will nest ANY TIME OF YEAR! whenever there is a big enough seed crop.

Northern Shrikes have followed their food south. Zoom in on the photo to notice their sharp hooked beak like a raptor, but perching feet like a robin. These "butcher birds" catch songbirds and mice in their beaks, carrying them to thorny shrubs where they skewer them since their feet cannot hold prey. Shrikes also build up a larder of shish kebabs of their kills. Watch for them hunting near your feeders.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Northern_Shrike.html

Snowy Owls have arrived in Maine! Usually years of winter finch invasions alternate with owl years, but this winter we've hit the jackpot! Good lemming years up north produce abundant snowy owl chicks that survive to adulthood, followed by lean lemming years that send surviving owls southward in search of food. So, take your binoculars and keep a keen eye out next time you hike up Sargent mountain, or drive past blueberry barrens. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Snowy_Owl.html

Merry Solstice** and enjoy winter's wonders!
The Dorr Museum of Natural History
ps. If the sky clears tonight, watch for northern lights.