Aerie AM Report, February 27, 2010

Put this way, it doesn't seem too bad:

Two feet of snow.

(Shamelessly "borrowed" from Theo's.)

Sometime during the night the switch got turned to the "On" position again. While we didn't get the maximum seven or so inches the radio man and AccuHunch were forecasting, it's not over yet.

When I went out this morning to shovel the deck and fill the stick and tray feeders, there were around three inches on the surface. If the same is true for the drive, it's not enough for the blower and too much to leave alone so I'll be out with the shovel later after I return from the post office. (Although, now that I look at the radar, maybe I'll just wait until tomorrow. The Snowicane, as AccuHunch refers to it, is still centered around Long Island Sound and, while weakening, continues its cyclonic pattern of winds all the way to the shores of Lake Erie and beyond. We are getting air from the north-northeast and they area still carrying snow showers. It looks as if the bulk of today's snow will fall in a crescent from Albany to Toronto to Buffalo, and eventually Cleveland and Pittsburgh. The Aerie, sits in the middle of that crescent and looks to be little affected. Then there's the Blob on Armenia Mountain to consider. It's a weather force of its own.

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The squirrels were out this morning. They were not yesterday. The snow is so deep and powdery that when they make their way across it, it's more like they are making their way through it. Instead of clear tracks on the surface, there are continuous three to four inch deep furrows like those made when a child drags its feet in the snow. I watched one as it left the deck heading for safety when I went out and it almost swam instead of bounded through the snow.

The birds responded quickly to the fresh seed and shoveled off deck and tray feeder. In fact, I almost had to beat them away from me as I filled the stick feeders. They had held back when the squirrels were up on the deck but seemingly have less fear of me than the squirrel. In addition to filling the existing feeders, I scattered a handful of seeds on the deck and that has pleased the ground feeding Juncos and Mourning Doves who get shoved aside by the Blue Jays. I just hope they get all the seed before it gets buried beneath more snow.