Tag: winter

Project 366 – Post No. 292 – A week of extreme cold warnings

What is Project 366? Read more here.

We have now had Extreme Cold Warnings for all of Alberta issued daily for almost a week…, and counting. An extreme cold warning is issued by Environment Canada to inform the public about cold temperatures in their region that are expected to last for at least two hours. An extreme cold warning is issued based on either the temperature or the wind chill being a certain value for at least two hours. The values range from −30 °C in the south to −55 °C in parts of the Arctic. In Alberta an extreme cold warning issued when the temperature or wind chill is expected to reach -40°C for at least two hours.

May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.

Project 366 – Post No. 291 – Eating to stay warm

What is Project 366? Read more here.

As the temperatures continues to stay in well below the seasonal average, right now we are sitting at -31 °C and the the average for this time of year is -7 °C, one starts to wonder how wild animals are able to cope with long periods of these extreme temperatures. Animals such as birds can obviously take shelter in dense foliage or in tree cavities or snow caves to get shelter from wind, but when the temperature reaches the extremes that it has been doing over the last few days, that will only go so far. The answer is in fluffing up the feathers to increase their insulating capacity and by stoking the metabolism by increasing energy intake. For example, Black-capped Chickadees, one of our most common and iconic winter bird consume up to 10% of their body weight during the day and burn it over night. As it turns out the chickadee has another trick up their…, er…, feathery sleeves to cope with the most extreme temperature. Chickadees have the ability to drop their body core temperature allowing them to tolerate lower temperatures by reducing the amount of energy required for generating heat.

May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.

Project 366 – Post No. 289 – Extreme cold warning

What is Project 366? Read more here.

The bitter cold continues with the temperature reaching -39 °C tonight. Any form out outing, nature walk or birding is out of the question. The forecast is predicting similar temperatures for the rest of the week so there will not be much in terms of new pictures until the temperatures ease up (currently predicted to occur on Sunday). As the situation is now, I’ll be lucky if the car starts tomorrow morning. As I am writing this the temperature hit -40 °C.

May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.

Project 366 – Post No. 288 – Bitterly cold

What is Project 366? Read more here.

You know it is cold when the local ski hills shuts down due to the bitter cold and the weather forecasts start to refer to the temperature as “bitterly cold”. The thermometer on my backyard deck reads about -25 °C, once you factor in the breeze the windchill drops the temperature down to -37 °C. At these temperatures exposed skin can get frostbites in less than 10 minutes. Yesterday I did try to got for a nature walk at the Grey Nuns White Spruce Park in St. Alberta. I lasted for about 30 minutes before I had to call it a day, and that was about 5 °C warmer than today. While I was hoping for milder temperatures today, once I checked the temperature this morning I knew that heading out for a walk and birding was out of the question. So today’s picture will be of my thermometer this morning.

Backyard temperature in the morning…, without the windchill.

May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.

Project 366 – Post No. 285 – Cold snap

What is Project 366? Read more here.

Until recently the winter has been mild by Alberta standards, dipping down to -15 ºC at the lowest. That has all changed now. Today the temperature was hovering around -20 ºC, and right now, at 9 pm it has dropped down to -24 ºC. Overnight temperatures are forecast to drop all the way down to -36 ºC. It is a quite typical for the winter temperatures to drop quite substantially in January and February. Only time will tell if we will reach the magnitude of last year’s cold snap, both in terms of how low the temperature goes and for how long (see the post Owling in the Frozen Wilds for a write up of last years record cold snap).

May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.

Project 366 – Post No. 284 – Erosion

What is Project 366? Read more here.

One does not have to go far along the Whitemud Creek to see striking evidence of ongoing erosion. In many of the creek’s meanders one the creek is craving out overhangs that result in vegetation clinging to increasingly unstable overhangs of dirt. It appear that the soil is quite loose throughout the ravine and as a result these overhangs collapse on a regular basis. In many of the meanders there are large amounts of trees that have fallen during one of these collapses. Clearly the meandering course of the creek, the loose soil and the never ending industrious work of the local beavers all contribute to the changing landscape. This stands in stark contrast to the various structures humans put in place to mitigate and control the erosion, such as planting fast growing plants, using carpets to hold the soil in place and building large fields of boulders along the outside curves of the creek.

May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.

Project 366 – Post No. 283 – Multicoloured bokeh balls

What is Project 366? Read more here.

Bokeh balls is the aesthetic quality of blur produced in the out-of-focus points of light of an image produced by a lens. Bokeh balls are particularly common when one is doing back-lit photography. Bokeh balls are fun and I only discover them after having taken the picture and when I am in post-processing, making their presence in photographs unpredictable and serendipitous. In this picture of ice covered leaves of grass shot in back-lit conditions I ended up with multicolored bokeh balls (to the left of the grass).

May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.

Project 366 – Post No. 282 – Nervous squirrels

What is Project 366? Read more here.

The Red Squirrels are everywhere. These fellas do not hibernate during the winter, but rather stay active throughout the season. They spend the fall collecting and storing food for future consumption in large. Using tree cavities, underbrush piles, or dens as their own pantries, red squirrels can ensure that the food they’ve gathered for the winter will be kept safely and out of the way of trespassers. Because their food stashes are critical for their survival they tend to be very territorial towards intruders. Confrontation between two red squirrels often entails a lot of tail flicking, chattering, and foot stomping. Even when I walk through the forest and come across a Red Squirrel it often shows its displeasure at my presence with loud chattering, aha sing its ground even when I am very close to it.

May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.

Project 366 – Post No. 281 – Common Ravens

What is Project 366? Read more here.

There are always ravens down at the Whitemud Ravine. Sometimes you only hear them, but they are typically not difficult to spot as they soar high above the ravine. I do not like the name “Common Raven” as I find it demeaning. Yes they are common as in abundant and easy to find, but they are not common as in an “ordinary” bird. They are undoubtedly one of the smartest bird around in these neck of the woods. They are also capable of an extraordinary repertoire of vocalizations. On a few occasions I have heard sounds in the forest that sounded like whistles or dripping water only to find, to my great surprise, that it was a raven vocalizing.

May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.

Project 366 – Post No. 280 – The Bohemian Waxwings are back

What is Project 366? Read more here.

As soon as I got to the trail head I heard the buzzing trills in the tree tops. It was different, yet familiar. I knew I that I knew who it was, yet could no put my finger on it. As I stood there searching my brain the answer became self-evident. Over the tree tops emerged two dozen Bohemian Waxwings. They flow over-head and landed in the top of a nearby spruce tree. The Bohemian Waxwings are back. True to their name, the Bohemian Waxwings are, well, bohemian. They travel in groups, chattering all the time and enjoy gorging themselves on berries. Occasionally they get drunk on fermented berries. In short, a very bohemian lifestyle fitting this magnificent bird.

May the curiosity be with you. This is from “The Birds are Calling” blog (www.thebirdsarecalling.com). Copyright Mario Pineda.