The temp this morning was 24 degrees below zero... without wind chill. That was just the ambient air temperature.
That's cold enough to freeze the tail off a peacock! That's cold enough to freeze the wind in mid blow! It was so cold it was hard to breath if you stepped outside. I'd imagine it was pretty bad for the birds too. The high today was only -1.
To quote the Birdchick (http://birdchick.com/blog.html): "People were feeling sorry for house sparrows". On the way home from Madison today, I spotted several Red-tailed Hawks, a lone Rough-leg, two Kestrels and about a dozen crows. That was all. The raptors were out only to hunt so they could keep warm.
I hope you all are keeping warm out there. It's darn cold here.
Hopefully, this cold will bring some more northern birds south. Aaron Holschbach in Arena, found a golden eagle this afternoon (most likely minutes after I passed by the same area with out seeing the bird).
Oh well, I'll get Goldens eventually.
Keep warm,
Happy Birding!
