3.24.2023

calendar schmalendar

Somebody forgot to tell Mother Nature to look at the calendar. It is suppose to be Spring. We woke up to snow yesterday morning, that apparently surprised our weather folks too. And to that I say calendar schmalendar.

Snow happens every Spring in WI. If you don't believe me, take a look:


snowy morning surprise



pastures are back to white



Jameson chasing Tank (behind tree)

Our labs have always played chase with each other. Recently they added peek-a-boo in the tree line across from our house into their game of chase. It is hilarious!! Even at 7-ish in the morning.

This short video clip will give you an idea of how the game is played. This is close to the end of their chase, when running pace is much slower. 


dogs playing in the treeline (5 sec) 
3/21/23



they get so excited, look at those hackles!



Jameson knows just when to keep Tank running

I was surprised when crows landed in the snowy tree line. They don't usually come this close to our house. Crows ('er Ravens) make me think of blogger Linda. I quietly opened the door to take some photos. Unfortunately the dogs started barking, scaring them away.



crow in the snowy tree line

The tree's were absolutely stunning! I decided to go for a solo walk, on a less traveled part of our land. Also known as "where the wild things live". I wanted to see what I could see and relocate a trail camera. 

The light was ever changing. The good stuff happened before my walk, but the wow factor was still there. This Spring snow had a depth of white not seen during Winter. It coated every single thing in beautiful shades of white!

It was also completely silent.

The kind of silence, where you could hear a snowflake fall.



starting out


a notable corner tree



the taller trees on the left are among my fav to photograph

tops glow with cast morning light

On this walk, I learned the birds also love these tree's



like the bobbin' robins



crows were very active

The lighter under color of the crow wings surprised me. I always think of them as solid black. Later on, I googled and learned "Crow and raven feathers are highly iridescent. They collect and reflect the light and the colour of the world around them. Gunmetal storm clouds, cornflower blue summer skies, the fire of the rising or setting sun — all paint their feathers with fleeting shades of indigo, lavender, copper and gold." I am trying to appreciate crows for what they are, smart birds.

Many more photos (and video) later, it was time to head home for the dogs. I saw more birds on my way home.



hard to miss color in a sea of white



male cardinal watching me, watch him

another game of peek-a-boo



his gal pal

It was SO beautiful and peaceful outside!! I stayed outside for round two. This time walking with the labs on our frequently traveled paths.




what Nemo thinks of the new herd arrangement


There were fresh tracks in the pines. Turkey/s had recently walked our spooky tree trail, cut through the woods, across the main trail and continued along the Y path. My guess is they were headed to where the wild things live. Although I doubt they live there, but they do frequent that area.



gobble, gobble


The dogs were so happy to be out playing in the snow again! Tank did his usual snow leaping. 

Jameson turned ten this month. I have spent the most time with him, of anyone. He grew up and lived with us for all but 1.25 years, right after we moved here. J is a hard dog to photograph! 



snowplow (with eyeballs open)



ten years young



a very happy Tank


The dogs zonked out after all that fresh air fun. 

The sun came out and melted the white away. There was no itsy bitsy spider found today.



snow? what snow?


the new routine
(koda, brad & cierra)



sunset over our ranch
3/23/23


5 comments:

Val Ewing said...

Fun stuff! Love the pictures of the dogs playing! Oh, what a beautiful sunset too.

We had about 5 inches and then it was mostly gone by evening.
I think there is an old saying: Spring will come when it snows on the Robins' tail 3 times.
So are we at 3 yet?

And today, Kenosha and Racine are under a winter storm warning!

Linda said...

Oh my!! That is crazy!! You had a magical winter wonderland and look what it revealed : robin, cardinal, crow (raven!). I didn’t know that about their feathers. Very cool! I didn’t even recognize it in your photo as a ..raven at first.

Robins are my other favorite bird, thanks to my dad saying that if he could, he’d visit us as a robin. Last year I had an explosion of robins around my house, with one group even nesting in our potted tree in front of our dining room window. I got to see the inner workings of their family, but I tried not to disturb them, and avoided the dining room as much as possible.

Your dogs sure loved the snow! And what a beautiful photo of Nemo. Looks like the white stuff didn’t last long, but it sure brought some fun.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Nice to have two dogs that play well together and tire each other out! Your snow photos are very pretty...however I appreciate them more in NOvember! Your sunset is lovely and it looks like you melted a bit. No melting here yet:(

aurora said...

I have never heard of that saying Val. It's a good one and probably accurate most seasons. Not this one. We are definitely past 3! Robins have been back for a while here. They overwintered some milder years at our old home.

Linda, crazy is right. We had another snowfall overnight into mid morning. It quickly covered everything back up. The constant weather swings are making us all a little crazy. Horses included.

The crows looked solid black to my eyes. I was so surprised to see lighter wings when I saw the photo. Pretty sure the white triangle on the flying crow is actually snow on the talons. The birds sure were entertaining yesterday!

Agreed Farside, it is very nice to have dogs exercise themselves and I also prefer snow during Winter months!

Shirley said...

What a great post! So much snowy beauty captured! Your dogs are such fun to see, so happy. That's wild that the snow was all gone by evening.