Yesterday was a pleasant work outside in the soil day. Time was spent removing quack grass runners from underneath the cut grass mulch cover. Now this soil is ready for new plants early next spring. Plans to continue this task were abandoned in response to the snow and very cold north wind.
The distant dead level field borders the Unadilla River. Three different ridges can be seen in the distance. The bottom land field is rich and productive but it is prone to flood. We wanted to be on higher ground not knowing that deep gravel deposits form the higher ground.
This view in the opposite direction shows our lumpy topography. The distant bedrock ridge was scraped clean by the last glacier. It would appear that gardening activities have ended for this season but temperatures in the fifties are forecast for the coming weekend.
We enjoy this view looking west. Falling snow blots out the distant ridge but looks great coating the tips of the pine branches.
Many geese are still spending time on the river. Daily training flights are common at both ends of the day now. The noise is loud and close as these geese work to organize themselves into an energy efficient vee formation. Agreements are rare as small groups head off in all directions with no clear leader in sight. I have often wondered if these come back from near extinction geese were duller than the geese watched in the 1950s. As a child I saw flocks of high flying geese arranged in symmetrical
smooth vees and compared that memory with the current disarray. What I failed to factor in was my location then as compared to now. The child was 10 miles south of Cayuga Lake and geese rising from that distant water had time to sort themselves out before coming into view. These geese in apparent disarray have just made the transition from floaters to flyers. With the strong cold wind from the north, these geese may just decide to hitch a ride to warmer places.
2 comments:
Interesting, I don't think I've watched geese try to organize themselves before! The layer of snow is beautiful. It snowed here today, but not enough to stick. Instead it was just a wet, dreary sort of day. I'd rather have some snow stick to pretty things up!
Lovely photos of the snow! We had a light dusting yesterday, too, but it is supposed to climb back up into the 60's by this weekend--strange weather.
Your description of the geese brought back memories of my childhood, too. I always remember seeing the geese flying south in a V-formation, a sure sign of winter coming. Nowadays, though, I see them all the time, because there are so many ponds around us that they stay all year and move from one water source to another.
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