Spring came and then abruptly left, or so it seemed. Last weekend the temperatures dropped into the high teens and on Saturday we had snow flurries all morning. Thinking it might be our last snowfall of the season, I braved the cold and attempted to get some footage of birds at a nearby natural area (Cornell Plantations Arboretum).

As you can see from the above video, I was quite successful. Although bird activity was muted, Red-winged Blackbirds and Mourning Doves were singing, and I found an Eastern Phoebe flying from perch to perch in search of insects (although it appeared that none were to be found). A Canada Goose seemed quite happy in the flurry, preening itself and swimming around as if all was well.

My favorite clip is the last one, featuring an American Robin perched on a limb with it’s belly feathers ruffled out. It looks like a male and he appears warm and cozy, unfazed by the snowflakes landing on his head and back … a picture of contentment and show of faith in an unpredictable world.

Although we got another flurry of snow yesterday morning, the weather forecast predicts a warming trend. It is quite possible that we won’t see any more snowfall until next autumn, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Winter may or may not have voiced its last gasp, but we can all be sure that spring will soon explode in full glory, and that the greening of the trees is merely a blink away.

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