Cold and Sunny.

3-16-14 SHORT HILLS: The snow continues to slowly retreat on the warmer days, of which today isn’t one. The north facing slopes are the last to melt out, getting the least sun. We have had little precip lately, which means we’ve missed the last few snowstorms. They have all slid by to our south. It has remained colder than normal for most of the month and is still wintery, and, of course, still winter for another five days.

I have been prowling around the yard, anxious for the gardening season to start, clearing deadfall from trees and shrubs, pruning broken branches and assessing the damage from this nasty winter. There’s lots of pruning to be done, especially of broken bamboo. There are broken fence rails, weighed down be snow and shrubs. I replaced two broken cellar window covers. They were probably broken by the weight of the snow load.


Red-wing blackbird, male with some brownish feathers on his back indicating that he's just becoming an adult. There's just a hint of red on the yellow epaulet.

Another male RWB hanging with a fierce looking grackle.

Young male shrub eater.