Overcast, windy and
34 degrees
After being lulled into a
sense that it would be a mild winter last week, Mother Nature reminded us this
morning that the cold season is almost upon us. With an elevation of just over 1000 feet, Lake Tiorati is
always a few degrees colder than down in the Hudson Valley. In addition to that, the winds today
were whipping off the lake, making the wind chill down below the 30 degree mark.
After having seen some really
great winter ducks over in Westchester County yesterday, I decided to check on
Tiorati, a site known for harboring good numbers of waterfowl in the dead of
winter as long as there is open water.
It is also one of the best places to get good looks at the leading edge
of Bald Eagles which migrate down to southeastern New York each winter.
Well, today I pretty much
struck out on both counts. I
scoured the entire area of the lake, driving all the way around in search of avian
life. Eventually, I did find
several mallards resting in a quiet cove out of the wind. After blowing off the mallards as
“trash ducks” in yesterday’s blog, I had to bite the bullet and include them in
this installment as the only game in town.
A short drive down Seven Lakes Drive,
I checked out both Lake Askoti and Lake Skannatati. Both were similary devoid of waterfowl save for a pair of
Canada geese along the side of the latter lake.
Reports from our bird club’s trip out to several Orange
County lakes proved more productive, so Sharon and I will make that journey
later this week and see if we can match their totals. Until then, we’ll write today off as a nice drive
through some real pretty landscapes and call it a day.
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