So here we are ... SPRING! You have officially arrived and somehow, you stuck your head in the ground and let Winter strike once again!
Shocked ... NO! Tis' Spring time on the Alberta Prairie!
(Blogger is driving me CRAZY, as its darkening some of my images once again when I upload them! Grrr ... I wish I could figure out WHY!!! These images are NOT this dark!)
The temperature wasn't too bad initially but eventually the melting snow became ICE and the temperature started to plummet!
These prairie gals headed for shelter and while I was out checking on the remainder of the livestock crew, I stumbled across a small flock of Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris)! Often thrown in the 'Sparrow' category because its hard to differentiate them from sparrows when they are on the fly, Horned Larks have very melodic voices that resonate out of the fields! Watching them snuggle down in the canola stubble and snow certainly made me wish I could hand each of them a little wool scarf! Somehow ... I think they are tougher than me!
I adore their little 'horns!'
The Tonka trucks that were played with the day before sat motionless today! Judging by the forecast, it might be a few more days before the boys think of 'hauling' anything with them! The forecast is for -25C with the windchill! After a couple of days of +10 and several days of +6C or +8C ... -17C + windchill is a rather cruel way to officially start Spring! The bright side ... I spotted my first hawk of the season! Soaring way up high, a beautiful Roughed-legged Hawk!
So there you have it ... the first official day of Spring on my little piece of the prairies and the first official day of Seasons 365 - Year Four! When I started this 365 project, I truly didn't know if I would make it the first year ... let alone three and starting on four! So, thank you for following and for all of your wonderful comments along the way! I truly appreciate it!
Cute little larks!
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