Watched By A Robin

Even though I have so many other things to show you, I decided that today was the day to show you a very close up picture of this American robin. Even though he might look a little bit closer than I really was to him, I was actually very close to this bird.

American robins like to dig around in wet grass looking for what I would guess to be worms. Since it's been raining for the past few days around here, the worms have been coming to the surface, giving the robins a feast of epic proportions. As you can see by the picture above, this robin hasn't missed any meals in quite some time.

Another thing you can see is that the robin was looking right at me when I took this photo. These are very brave little birds. They don't mind humans very much at all. As long as we keep at least a few feet away, a robin will go about his business as if we aren't even there. Even if we scare them away they don't feel the need to go very far.

I decided to back off just a little bit for you so you can see what he was doing a little bit better. He was pecking at the ground in between hopping small distances. I guess he was looking for just the right spots to check for his tasty little prey.

Many of you know that I share a lot of pictures of robins, but this is the very best one I've shared of a robin on the ground. I'm not sure I can top this one. Well, maybe if I get one to spread his wings for me one day. That would really be something, wouldn't it? Spread your wings little robin!

One last note. I mentioned several months back that I had an exciting new project in the works. It's almost ready! This is something I hope will benefit all of us nature lovers here on the internet. I will have a big announcement at the end of this month!

Ice Quake Update

I've told you several times in the past about a strange phenomena of nature I call an ice quake. I've been waiting until right at this time of year when winter turns into spring so I can get a good sound recording of the ice quake so I can share it with all of you. Well, I have some good news, and I have some bad news.

First I'm going to give you the bad news. It seems the phenomena known as an ice quake just doesn't happen every year. This year the ice has been melting in such a way that it all turned into slush before we could get the violent cracking that creates an ice quake. You can see in the picture that the ice is already melting fast.

With recent rain we've had for the past few days, I'm guessing that the ice is melted even further, and there just won't be enough ice for an ice quake this year. I can't begin to tell you how disappointed I am by this turn of events. I was really looking forward to showing you and letting you hear something very special. But don't worry. All is not lost!

At the beginning of winter there was a small version of an ice quake! I didn't share it with you at the time because it wasn't the big quake that I was waiting for. Plus I was saving it as a backup just in case the unthinkable happened, which it did. So for this episode of Rat TV I have a small ice quake for you!

There aren't any impressive visuals in this one, but the sound of the quake is there. Listen closely at 2, 9, and 21 seconds into the video, and you will hear the cracking sounds of the ice. They were hard to pick up that day because there was a plane passing by overhead, but they are clearly audible. There are other smaller cracking sounds in between if you listen very closely.

So even though there was no big ice quake, there was at least this small one last December. And just because I didn't get one here doesn't mean you won't get one where you live. Also I'm not the only one to have ever experienced one of the ice quakes. The Retired One, after reading my original story from almost exactly a year ago, went down to her lake and got to experience her very own ice quake. You can do it too.

This is another look at the lake from the last time I was out there. Since it's been raining for the past few days, I've chosen to take my adventuring elsewhere. I will hike in the snow, I will hike in the mud, I will hike in most different conditions, but I will not hike in a heavy rain or temperatures below 15 degrees Fahrenheit. I don't want to get myself or my camera wet, and dangerously cold temperatures aren't for me either.

So I'll be going out to the same place as soon as I can today to check the condition of the lake. I'm sure there will still be ice, but the rain will have melted it away even more than it is now. No ice quake this year. But I urge you to go back and look at my post from a year ago to read about my description of the ice quake from back then. This could very well be the last true winter post I'll have for you this year. It's gone. All gone...

"Ice Quake" - from March 17, 2009