Winter schminter

Lesser Scaup (www.10000birds.com)

As I hunker down at home staying warm while temperatures drop to 3 degrees (!) overnight, I am very grateful for my down comforter...that thing is amazing! That and my Uggs and I'm a happy girl. But what about the birds? I mean, I heard a sad story about a dog getting frozen to the sidewalk last week...

Well, on Tuesday and today I went into work for part of the day (yesterday work was closed - SNOW DAY!) and driving across the Youngs Bay bridge the western-most portions of the bay were frozen and covered in snow. This is the part usually exposed at low tide, very close to where all my friends the scaups, buffleheads and mallards (among many other ducks) hang out. Today I noticed they're all STILL there - just a little less active. Most of them had their bills tucked way down under their wing, snuggling in to stay warm, just floating along in the intermittent snow/sun/wind/snow coming at us from the North, East and West. Of course this is nothing for them - I mean they sit and dive into cold cold water every day of their lives! And their metabolism is revved up high to keep them warm and cozy...And their feathers are made for just this sort of thing! Bringing me back to the down...They're the lucky ones! "Winter? Psha! That's nothing, sister!" they told me as I drove past in my very warm subaru...