If you can manage to discover any open wetlands in January where water still flows you may be in a store for a treat when it comes to some of the hidden birds in and around this habitat. Natural springs may run even when the temperature is well below freezing. Some streams find a way to keep warm and draw in wildlife, too. The tiny Winter Wren can be found in a place like this, hopping from rock to rock. One may turn up a very well hidden American Woodcock using the exposed earth to search for earthworms. Ruby-crowned Kinglets may be feeding at eye-level as they hope for insects in the air near the running water. I have encountered Brown Creepers silently spiraling up the trees in these warmer pockets as well. Winter may completely blanket our backyards and woodlands with snow but underneath that blanket there is still a great deal of life.
Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation & Outreach Coordinator
