Trying to find colour

Even though it's winter I felt warm all day from the wonderful welcome back here. And now the challenge...finding colour and beauty in the middle of a gray, slushy, slushy Canadian city.

Ok, let's face it. I'm ready for spring!

Nature Notes

I continue to observe the birds around me. The white-throated sparrows have settled in under the bushes where I work. Like last year, about 3 have found their winter territories in the urban wilderness around my workplace.

The pigeon year is full of surprises! The mating flights have started with the lengthening days. Couples wheel around in pairs, showing off and testing each other. May the best flier get the girl!

The nest sites on my building are not abandoned. The owners guard the site daily. After each snowfall, fresh tracks show where the pigeons have inspected their site, keeping their claim for the coming spring. I see that competition for nest sites is fierce and intense year round.

One day in December I saw a pigeon sitting on the ground, obviously close to death. It looked familiar and it was one half of the couple who had occupied "my" nest. After a couple of weeks of lonliness, the other one found a new mate. We'll see what transpires in the spring.

Other winter birds are around: red-tailed hawks and Cooper's hawks hunt, hairy and downy woodpeckers inspect the bare trees for food and a flock of sparrows has decided that our wild rose bush is their meeting place.

So lots to see and lots to learn and lots to enjoy!