With the unusual cold weather this winter in many areas and specifically down here in the deep south I've noticed that the purple martins haven't returned yet. Normally the martins that nest in my gourds are here like clockwork on February 2nd...so far I haven't seen any....which is actually a good thing as they would have starved to death (no flying bugs in this cold air). But, normally the instinct gets them on up here anyhow. I'm hoping that their instinct has kicked into hyper drive this year and they're delaying their return because of the temperatures. They need 50F during the day to feed in. I was worried about them heading back to South America last fall because of the oil spill...I'm hoping that has nothing to do with them being late returning. I'm hoping that with the forecast of warmer temperatures in the near future that they will be returning shortly.
I've also seen more bobcats and foxes than normal and birds of prey very active....they're probably also struggling to keep their fires fed. Farmers are busy feeding hay to their cows, poultry growers are burning propane out the yingyang. Looks like all kinds of critters have had to alter their patterns because of the cold we've had.
Just thinking....
Ed
I've also seen more bobcats and foxes than normal and birds of prey very active....they're probably also struggling to keep their fires fed. Farmers are busy feeding hay to their cows, poultry growers are burning propane out the yingyang. Looks like all kinds of critters have had to alter their patterns because of the cold we've had.
Just thinking....
Ed