With blue skies and temperatures in the fifties, you'd think that spring has arrived in Turnagain Pass. The many avalanches tell the story of the danger to skiers and snowmachiners. It's a spring-time threat for sure, but everything else shows that spring is far from the pass.
I stopped my truck alongside the highway recently where a large divot had been plowed into the roadside snow pack.
This wasn't necessarily to enable runoff of thawing snow, but to make the post visible that measures the depth of snow in the pass. The snow was so deep alongside the highway, that you couldn't see the post.
Here's a better look:
And, closer still:
Yes, over eight feet of snow remaining.
Meanwhile, a few hundred less elevation, Tern Lake is starting to thaw around the edges and the waterfowl are slowly returning, either to rest for the next leg of their migration, or to claim their spot in the lake for breeding and chick-raising.
Mallard drake
And a female mallard.
The resident swans have returned to claim their lake, although they don't migrate like so many of their kind. They stay at Tern Lake until it freezes over, then fly to open water nearby. I usually see them come back whenever there's a brief thaw and then they leave again when the cold returns.
Plus, there are many other waterfowl at the head of the lake where it's impossible to get decent photos.
Can't wait for the rest of the species to return. It's been a long, hard winter.
When YOU say it's been a long, hard winter, we KNOW it has been a long, hard winter Gullible! It IS promising that the waterfowl are returning to Tern Lake. That's a good sign. We hope Spring will become more obvious in the days ahead. Smiles and hugs. Patti and Cap
ReplyDeleteWhat bird names ! A Greater Yellowlegs. It looks like a Wilsons Snipe to me. Smiles and Hugs Cap and Patti
ReplyDelete