Around the House - Winter

Within a 200 foot radius of our back door there's a variety of habitats: lawn, several small flower gardens, an apple tree, shrubs both native and ornamental and woodland which developed after what had been a pasture was abandoned about 100 years ago – as well as a tiny pond that was featured in this post. The area adjoins thousands of acres of native forest so we're visited by species characteristic of those acres.

The area in that 200 foot radius is the subject of this photo-a-day-for-a-year project. These photographs cover meteorological winter: December, January and February. They were primarily taken with an Olympus mirrorless micro-four-thirds camera using various lenses; a few photos were taken with a Canon compact superzoom camera and others are from one of several camera traps (the camera trap photos are noted). All of the photographs have been compressed for posting.

Herewith are the photographs from those 90 days –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winters have changed markedly in the 51 years we’ve lived on the side of this hill, from real winters with snow and temperatures below 0° to something quite different. This winter we had fairly low temperatures and some snow in mid-December and a high of 51° in early January, and then repeated that pattern in February with a low of 7° followed by a high of 62° two weeks later. And then winter ended with another short-lived snowfall. As you can see from the photographs, there actually was little snow this winter, and each snowfall melted rapidly – the climate's changing and not for the better.

Winter's over now, but we may still have some cold weather and snowy days. Geese are heading north, the first flowers of spring are blooming and flocks of robins have been moving through – winter's done and tomorrow spring begins.

If you like the results of this project, why not try one yourself? You don’t have to own a good camera, an inexpensive point-and-shoot camera or a cell-phone can provide your photos. You don’t need a large yard; you can find subjects anywhere with plants, a few shrubs and a tree or two. Live in an apartment – use a town park or a vacant lot.

Go out, look around and really, really look. Don’t be afraid to bend down, use a magnifying glass or get dirty. There’s a fascinating world out there for anyone who cares to look at it. 

From a camera trap - 1/9, 1/24, 2/7