Towheeblog

Today was slighlty warmer and the rain and warmth (above 35 degrees) did away with much of the snow and ice after early morning.

A visit to Lafayette Locks Park turned up a Robin feeding on the ground.  Expected.  But this bird was surrounded by a few Golden-crowned Kinglets…on the ground.  I had never seen that before.  But the warmth of the day was cussing the overnight leaf glaze of ice to melt and the ice pieces were bringing to the ground whatever was on or under the fir needles and leaves overhead.  That must have meant prey for the kinglets who were behaving more like pipits or sparrows.  This was a complete obverse of summer birding when the GC KInglets are up on the canopy, often heard but not quite seen.

So today it was kinglets acting as groundlets.

Did I mention the ice?  Beautiful, frigid, fleeting.