Today we were hit with more snow, only an inch or so of the lovely, huge snowflakes. When I arrived in the valley an arctic cold front was moving in, instantly, dropping temperatures to around -20 with the wind chill. The temperature is expected to drop to -52 below zero by this evening.
I was right hiking around Nest 1, and the cottonwood groves when that Arctic blast met the stubborn winds in the valley. I wouldn't say it was like the thunder we had during our last snow storm, but it was more like a whiney howl--like a train off in the distance that never drove out of earshot.
The skies became almost the color of charcoal, and our overcast daylight dropped so fast, that if I didn't have a clock on my camera, I would have thought it was already 4 p.m., and that night was fast approaching.
Then, all at once, three snow tornado's rose up before me. Twirling and rising to about twenty or thirty feet before disintegrating into the blowing winds before I could even raise my camera to them. I looked across the open woods and these little tornado's were everywhere. So I sat down on a fallen tree and watched them for awhile, trying to figure out how to photograph them.
While sitting there I felt the temperature drop at least ten degrees with these sudden winds and what I call snow tornado's. I wished I had worn more than my down vest and coveralls. I decided I better keep moving, less I freeze to that long log above, that old cotton tree that provided me a front row seat for today's snow show.
The winds and snow tornado's began blowing up the tree holding Nest 1, and this brought Dancer into his nest area. I was out tromping around in the flood brush again, stepping over the snow-covered trees, trying not to snap my ankle. There were at least a dozen trees down, cottonwoods that fell from the high winds we had just before the summer flood of 2007. Tree's that I will argue became a windbreak protecting the eagle nest tree.
I couldn't get any good shots of Dancer because I had all my big gear at my post 500 yards south of me. I headed this direction, with just my small lens, because I was out looking for insect subjects and trees for my tree book.
However, I enjoyed watching Dancer as he flew around circling his nest, and chuckled as he tail-swagged the rising and falling snow tornado's.
I have never met an eagle who could even meet with his wings; the snow tornadoes before they even rose to his heights. It was almost a game to him to fly up and meet them, and I loved watching him catch the wind gusts.
After this exciting hike through the 24-28 inches of snow, I hiked back to my truck and headed up to Nest 2, and found Judy and The Mayor's nest was empty. I kept moving on up the road and I searched the surrounding trees around the deer carcasses for eagles, but the carcasses were picked to the bone, and no longer an attraction to the eagles.
By the time I reached the trumpeter swans the snow tornado's were dancing across the open ponds, over the swans and ducks. The male eagle, Dick, from Nest six swiped down across the pond and scattered red heads, mallards, and what I thought looked like canvasback, but it seems too early for them.
I looked for the black opossum, too, but I couldn't even find his tracks from yesterday with all the new snow from today.
I found Sweetie, my red-tail hawk on perch one, sitting high on his 13:30 perch. I found nests 3-5 all empty. I don't know where my day went. It seemed like I barely had arrived and it was already time to leave.
I enjoyed exploring the fields and marshes today, but I have to say the highlight was the snow tornado's.
The roads were snow-drifted as I drove home, and it was white-out conditions most of the drive. It doesn't seem like the long-awaited, sunny days of winter for 2008 will ever arrive. Tomorrow, I'll have to bundle up, but I'll be looking for wildlife that is out there: huddled, puffed out, heads under wings, noses tucked into curled bodies. I look forward to capturing images of them enduring this new arctic blast.
I'm looking forward to Day 33.
See you on the journey--
Lisa
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