Weather forecasts for this day predicted one hour without snow flurries – between 1 and 2 pm. At that time I headed to an overcast Don Valley and took these photos.

As you can see, there was very little colour. Here are some of the wildflowers as they were today and then how they were months ago.

Other botany:

The river remains unfrozen near the clean water outlet of the North Toronto Wastewater Treatment Plant. There are Mallards here all year and a Black Duck was with them today.

The next day, in full sun, this treasure appeared in my back yard.

I rushed to get my camera and took these photos through the window pane.

I regularly have Cooper’s Hawks in the yard as they are bird-eaters and keep a close eye on the feeder. Though today’s bird is almost identical to a Cooper’s, it was obviously smaller.

In the woodpecker world we have the Downy (length: about 6.5 inches) and the Hairy (length about 9.5 inches) which closely resemble each other.

With bird hawks (Accipiters) we have the Sharp-shinned (length 10 – 14 inches) and the Cooper’s (length 14 – 20 inches).

This was clearly a Sharp-shinned Hawk. It is about the size of a Grackle (length about 11 – 13.5 inches) or a Blue Jay (length about 11 – 12.5 inches).

In the past, ornithologists shot birds and then brought them home to study. I can imagine that someone shot one of this species, brought it home and promptly cut their hand on the sharp shin. Hence the name.

Sharp-shinned Hawks do migrate south for winter and we at are the northern edge of their winter range. The are uncommon but widespread.

I was thinking recently that this is one species that I have never been able to see close up. Here are some previous photos:

Much closer today:

Another difference between Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned is that in Cooper’s the tail is well rounded and in Sharp-shinned it is notched or square.

Eventually the hawk flew to a nearby pine where I was able to see the tail and confirm the identification.

and then it flew far off.

MAILBAG

I received this enthusiastic e-mail about a Tundra Swan sighting:

I was walking early yesterday in the Humber Bay area after parking my car in the lot east of the Humber River.   I was so pleased to see many birds – red breasted mergansers, Canada geese, Greater Scaups, long tailed ducks, mallards and herring gulls and a few I couldn’t name.
But the best was when I was back to the car and saw a trio of tundra swans pass by close to the shore but not very high, and then another group of seven.I travelled along the parking lots trying to see if they had landed.I was thrilled to see these swans as I looked forward to seeing them in the hundreds in the fields south of Grand Bend early every Spring for the ten years that I lived there.Thanks so much for continuing to share your daily walks.

NATURE POETRY

Snow in the country—snow in the town,
Silently, silently sinking down;
Everywhere, everywhere fast-falling snow,
Dazzling the eyes with its crystalline glow!          – Jennie E. Haight (1836–1916)

Miles Hearn