So Tell Us How the Weather Has Affected You and the Critters Around You.....

[Carol P.]

With the polar vortex hitting a big chunk of the US and Canada, it would be nice to hear how the cold (or warm, depending on where you live) temperatures are affecting you where you live.

Here in Rochester (NY), yesterday we woke up to -5 (F) and a windchill of -30 (F).  Today, when I woke up at 5:00 am it was 7 (F) and -10 (F).  I've been keeping my bird feeders full and putting out suet for my backyard birds.  Lots of hungry birds have been visiting and eating their fill.   

The Rochester Falcons are dealing with it in their own way, finding sheltering spots out of the cold, wind and snow.

So, if you'd like to share your winter weather stories and pics, we'd love to read them.  If you've never posted, don't be shy.

Take care everyone and keep warm!!!
Carol P.

[Bobbie Ireland]

While you endure the Polar Vortex, Ireland has been battered for many days by hurricane-force winds... the kind that chill your blood as they wake you up in the middle of the night. Accompanied by torrential rains and much flooding. I will see if I can find some FB pix. Calmer now, but it was a bumpy ride.

As far as critters are concerned, we are noticing a marked drop in both quantities and species variety at our feeders. Worrying.

[Dumpsterkitty]

The feeder birds loaded up on Sunday and I haven't really seen much of them since. The feeders are still half full. They've probably gone into a torpor state...greatly reduced metabolic activity...

http://birding.about.com/od/birdingglossary/g/torpor.htm

[Shaky]

The feeder birds loaded up on Sunday and I haven't really seen much of them since. The feeders are still half full. They've probably gone into a torpor state...greatly reduced metabolic activity...

I haven't seen much activity at the Dairy Queen drive-thru either.

[patsy6]

I had to drive to and from work yesterday and today, for reasons not related to the weather. I usually take the bus to and from work, but I was somewhat glad to forsake it for my car for past two days.  I say "somewhat" because the driving hasn't been that good.  Still, I waited for the bus in almost zero degree weather and strong winds on Monday, and didn't relish having to do that on Tuesday and today.  The weather is slowly improving, though. 

[dale]

On the "L" (elevated train) platforms there are heat lamps in one or two spots. In very cold weather, the pigeons always huddle in the warmest spots, and humans in a (less-heated) circle around them, pretending that that's normal. This was taken (no zoom - in cold weather they let you get close) a couple of days before the Big Freeze. During it, however, when it was -14F and the like, there were no pigeons to be seen (nor were the heat lamps making any difference whatsoever).

[Carol P.]

Wow!  Some very interesting stories.  Thanks Dale, Bobbie, Pat and Ei!  

It's nice to know that Shaky is tracking the activity at this local Dairy Queen!   

You know when you've been through a polar vortex when 13 (F) degrees feels balmy.  

My bird feeder was half empty last night, so I filled it up to the top!

Downtown, I saw a pigeon land on a snow covered ledge.  It just kind of sat there for a few moments and then took off.

The weather people are saying that Rochester will get close to 50 degrees with rain on Saturday.  There goes all that snow!

Come on everyone!  We would love to hear from you.  

[patsy6]

Oh, and one more thing.  Dare I say it?  This doesn't have much to do with the cold, but I miss the crows at Washington Square Park here in Rochester.  The city scared them away, but they made life interesting for me while waiting for my bus across from the park.  There were thousands of them.  They're very social.  It seemed like they were holding committee meetings in each of the park's trees, and there were assigned crow liaisons that would fly from tree to tree and then report back to the members of the committee in the first tree.   

[Kris G.]

Genesee County (where I live) had a travel ban during the height of the storm so all big trucks were pulled off the Thruway, having to seek a place to park their rigs.  The Flying J, a truck stop in Pembroke, and Pembroke HS parking lot soon filled up so Police starting pulling them off the Thruway into Batavia (we live 5 minutes outside the city). Target, Walmart, Home Depot, K-Mart, Tops and Batavia Downs allowed them to use their parking lots and soon they were all full for the duration of the ban. At home, I saw birds struggling to get to our feeder for food, sometimes flying more backwards than forward.  We have a privet hedge around our back deck that was packed with small birds hiding from the elements.  The larger Mourning Doves always sit on the deck's roof edge during winter months, puffing their bodies way out to maintain warmth but, during the storm, they were all sitting on the deck as close to the hedge as they could get.  The next day, Bill filled our feeder and the birds went crazy as they must have been really hungry, quickly emptying the feeder and it was the first time we ever remembered having to fill the feeder twice in one day. Looking out at our 3 Bluebird boxes, which we had prepared for winter visitors last fall by plugging the side vent holes and placing grass in them, we wondered how many birds had sought refuge during the storm in the boxes.

[Bobbie Ireland]

Very vivid report, Kris G! Poor birds.

 

[Carol P.]

Tomorrow the temps in Rochester are going to rise over 50 (F) degrees! With clouds, rain and wind, it should make for a very interesting day.  and yes, Monroe Cty is under a flood watch tomorrow.  Lots of snow and ice is going to melt making for some really big puddles.   

[Kris G.]

Very vivid report, Kris G! Poor birds.

 

Bill checked the Bluebird boxes today and it appears all 3 have been used by the birds...good place to keep warm!  We're expecting flooding in Genesee County this weekend with the warm-up...Tonawanda Creek runs through Batavia, which caused bad flooding of streets and homes a few weeks ago.  Black Creek runs behind our house but we're about 40 feet above it so no flooding will affect us here.  I heard about all the bad storms, high winds/waves in the UK...really bad.  In Australia, they're suffering with 120+ degree temps. which is killing bats and dropping Kangaroos.  Crazy weather!

[dale]

Both Rochester and Chicago are on the top 10 coldest cities in the U.S. weather channel list - nice pictures

http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-10-coldest-us-cities-20140110,0,4892187.photogallery

[Shaky]

Both Rochester and Chicago are on the top 10 coldest cities in the U.S. weather channel list - nice pictures

http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chi-10-coldest-us-cities-20140110,0,4892187.photogallery

Nice photo of Mercury's foot.

[valhalla]

It was cold in MD, but only got to 4 one day.  Put the fireplace on for supplemental heat - didn't run Tuesday and put all of the Christmas stuff away.  Got to 20 on Wed, went to the North Beach MD Boardwalk, ran 5.5 miles and saw a gorgeous female Bald Eagle!  Great Weather because it is looking like the yuk in the pool got killed, probably took out a bunch of stink bugs, killed off a bunch of larve, held the kudzu at bay, kill some pollen and mold, so a great couple of days!  Oh, the bird feeders were filled, too!