Spring Is Tiptoeing Along

Spring is tiptoeing along this year.  Through Saturday, April has been the third coldest on record in Fairbanks in more than 100 years, and we're on track to beat out 1911 for second coldest, with the record being set in 1924.  Although the pavement leading to the old barns at Creamer's Field is mostly bare, you can see there is still lots of snow.

There has been some activity in the fields, but the number of birds has still been quite small.  I'm hoping that summer is not going to be as reluctant as spring has been! 

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Check out more old barns at Tricia's Barn Charm!

In Search of Spring

With the yard covered in snow and new snow on the deck, we're wondering where spring is.  It seems to have lost its way, so for now I guess I'll have to make do with remembered color.....

A Few Brave Geese.....

We had another few inches of snow yesterday, but today was sunny again and most of that is melted.  We're a little cooler, in the high 30s, and at Creamer's Field a few puddles have developed and some of the grain is uncovered.  Geese are beginning to arrive, mostly Canada Geese, but I saw at least five White-fronted Geese today. 

Here are the five, and it's nap time.  

I'm not sure that the geese are terribly happy with all the snow.....

I really do like the White-fronted Geese!

Around the Barns

Although we've warmed up to the mid-40s in the daytime and the snow is melting rapidly, the fields at Creamer's Field were still covered in show when I went by on Saturday afternoon and no geese or ducks were there.  Since it was a beautiful sunny day I decided to walk around the barns before the trails are covered with puddles.  Although I've posted many of the angles of the barns before I don't think I've posted shots from the back when there's been snow.  Below is snow collected in the gully between the two Iowa-style barns and the creamery building, which was in use until 1966.

Moving around a little bit is the gully between the two Iowa-style barns and the old log barn.

I took a lot of photos, way too many for one post, so I did a few collages.  Below shows the backside of the three barns and some details of the cupolas.  

Back around the front of the barn, I liked the glimpses of the barns and the farmhouse through the big old birch tree that stands in front.

One last view showing the two big barns with the farmhouse and the creamery building......

 .....and a crop to show a little kid doing what all little kids love best this time of year--playing in the puddles!

You can read more about the history of the old barns by clicking on Creamer's Dairy Barns in my sidebar.  The birds are starting to be seen around town, mostly near the river.  I got some good shots of a Bald Eagle yesterday, and you can view those photos by clicking HERE.

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Don't forget to hop over to Tricia's Barn Charm to see more wonderful old barns! 

River Watch

Every year there is an Outdoor Show in Fairbanks promoting outdoor activities around the state.  As we turned into the parking area, we saw this guy sitting observing the activity along the river.  Luckily I had brought my camera along, so I spent a bit of time admiring him.

In a tree nearby a Raven was making a lot of noise.  I do believe he was taunting the Eagle.  The Raven comes by the name of Trickster quite honestly.

We went to the Outdoor Show to pick up some brochures for some travel adventures this summer.  I got the brochures, but this sighting was definitely the highlight of the show!

We're Melting!

The last couple of days have been sunny and Saturday went over the 40 degree mark.  That's the forecast for the week.  That should go a long ways toward getting rid of the snow!  In the late afternoon I went to Creamer's Field, hoping some geese might have decided it was warm enough to come north.  They hadn't, and the field was bare--well, except for all that snow!

 

 

 

Last year on April 20th the field looked like this......

The collage below is made from photos taken last year on the 16th, with quite a bit more snow than four days later.  We've got almost 16 hours between sunrise and sunset now, giving plenty of time for the sun to attack that snow pack.  It should go fairly quickly.

Now the message just needs to get out to all those birds that should be heading our way!

Is It Breakup Time Yet?

Many of you will remember the old rusty pickup in our yard.  The next two photos were taken April 17th, and you can see the snow is melting quite nicely.

Of course, those two photos were taken last year on April 17th!  The two below are what it looks like this year on April 17th......

We've got a ways to go before we see any grass, but the forecast is for daytime temps well above freezing by this weekend, warming up to the 40s (F).  Perhaps we'll have breakup this year after all!  

Snow Buntings Fly-By

Last week we had about five inches of new snow.  It stopped snowing Thursday, but all that grain that had been spread at Creamer's Field was covered, as you can see in this photo I took on Friday.

The geese and swans and ducks have delayed their flight north, but the Snow Buntings have still been active.  On Thursday I saw a large flock, somewhere between 100-150.  Click HERE to see a few close-ups from my last post.

At one point when they took flight they did a fly-by in front of the barns.

These little guys swirl around very quickly, and the result left the barns a bit out of focus.  I added some definition using filters in PSE.

Today is up around the freezing mark and the forecast is for warming this week.  Hopefully we'll get some melting and our avian visitors will decide to fly north!

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Check out more old barns at Tricia's Barn Charm!

Snow Buntings at Creamer's Field

Still no more Canada Geese have shown up at Creamer's Field.  We've had about 4-5 inches of snow over the last several days, and today might have reached 15 degrees F.  Wisely the geese are waiting it out further south.  In the meantime, the flock of Snow Buntings seems to have increased, some 100+.  This afternoon I was able to get some closer shots.

They hung around on the ground out in the field, and would then swirl around in unison for a bit before landing again.  One time they took off, and as I was focusing through the camera they disappeared.  It took me a minute to realize they had landed in the trees right next to me, settled at the very tops in clustered groups.

Looking up at them they looked like tufts of cotton.  (Look at the buds on those trees!) 

And then suddenly they all took wing and landed back in the field.

I couldn't tell if I had managed to get any decent shots through all the branches or in the distance in the field.  This is one of those times when I was wishing for a bigger lens.  Nonetheless, these are much better than the last time, and perhaps I'll get another chance at them before they head north.....