A Sign of Warmer Weather
The months of January and February have been bitterly cold in Kitchener. The last areas of free-running water were confined to the faster-moving water flowing from the Wetlands. Shallow areas that attracted song sparrows to plodge in the small trickling streams as they searched for fallen seeds. And then came the cold! With the ground completely covered in snow and the water frozen song sparrows were left to feed on what seeds they could find on the remaining flowering stems of plants that had long withered away. American tree sparrows, with their rusty crest and bicolored bill, were also on the search for seeds. They were seen briefly, flitting from branch to branch. Redpolls appeared utterly oblivious to the freezing conditions. A female redpoll is pictured below feeding on the seeds of a goldenrod plant. When the goldenrod seeds were exhausted, the redpoll's main food source was still in good supply. The seeds of Alder trees are available only to those with a specific skillset.