HAPPY NEW WEEK!
I hope everyone has a safe, peaceful, joyful week.
I saw 3 little Winter Wrens outside my porch window this week. Also, I hiked up to my small town for some groceries, and I startled 3 White-Tailed Deer as I crossed the bridge over the creek. They were getting a drink, and they made a loud racket as they crashed through the dry brush. I was glad to see that they were quite plump and healthy to face the long winter.
ANNETTE: I also have Carolina Wrens here in the winter. I've been really glad to see the deer here looking so healthy. Researchers have been testing the deer across the Midwest and finding "stunning" levels of infection from the coronavirus that causes covid. 20-40 percent of the deer is common, and in 2020 in Iowa 80 percent of the deer were infected. The deer are a reservoir for the virus. They catch it from humans, the virus mutates wildly in them, and just recently scientists proved that the mutated virus passed from the deer back to a human. Researchers aren't sure how this happens. www.npr.org/.../researcher-finds-stunning-rate-of-covid-among-deer-heres-what-it-means-for-human
Diane - I looked up winter wren. They are a lot like our wrens here. You tend to hear them more than see them as they like scrubby bushes and don’t have the habit of sitting up high and singing. Their song however, is loud and always ends with a little trill. One of the few birdsongs I can recognise. I am so pleased you enjoyed the descriptions of the trains. I looked for photos but I think most of the ones I took were pre digital. Dibnlib - so pleased you enjoyed the concert. May I do Rant Part 2??? Well, even though Lindy had her fingers crossed, my parcel didn’t arrive on Friday. I rearranged it (online) for Saturday and during yesterday afternoon I had an online chat with a “helper” who assured me the parcel would come. I knew it wouldn’t as it hadn’t appeared on the tracking. They don’t deliver on a Sunday so I have rearranged it for Monday. I am not very optimistic. I can arrange to collect it from the depot which is on an industrial estate outside a town about 10 miles from here. I have decided that if it doesn’t turn up on Monday, I will go and collect it on Tuesday (if they can find it in the warehouse!!!!!!!!) End of rant. Fortunately, this morning, my friend and I had our usual Sunday morning walk. We did a different route today and just enjoyed the colour which is in the trees still and both felt better for being outside.