Bitter Cold

It's bitterly cold here on Indigo Hill today. And it's surely going to get worse after the weakling sun sets in an hour.

This image shows our snow-dusted meadow this afternoon, at the warmest point of the day--22 degrees. You can understand why I'm hoping the American woodcock males wait a bit before arriving here from the warmer South. The ground is icy, though not completely frozen. It might not break a foraging woodcock's bill, but he might get a headache.

At dusk on spring evenings, we may have as many as five male woodcocks performing in our meadow,

with others in nearby clearings and pastures.
Photo by Phoebe Linnea Thompson.