January 2022 - that's a wrap!

 Last day of the month, figured we'd do a wrap up....

weather was decent, not raining or snowing although a touch of fresh snow on the hills

not much around except the hundreds of Canada Geese with some Cackling Geese mixed in, in all the farm fields...

and

more in the water....

this little Cackler had a lot to say after having a vigorous bath.

at one point, this little guy - a Cooper's Hawk I believe, flew over and a bunch of the geese took flight.

and if you are looking for signs of spring (and aren't we all!)  Pussy Willows today.

Heading home...

this Pileated Woodpecker (male because he has a red 'moustache') was working on a hydro pole.

So tomorrow we are in the month of February....the month when we have the 4 day Backyard Bird Count.  This year the dates are Feb. 11 to 14th.  This is the bird count where everyone is invited to get outside somewhere, anywhere and count what ever birds you see.  It is something I look forward to every year and almost invariably something happens that keeps us from enjoying it to it's full extent.  Hopefully that won't be the case this year.

By mid-month we will be hoping to see the arrival of the robins and by the end of the month, depending on how things go, we could be seeing the first Tree Swallows arriving, it wouldn't be the first time they've shown up in the last day or so of February.