Winter season at Greenwood

Pine Grosbeak

Happy New Year!  I hope you and your friends and family had a good holiday season and that you are ready for the new year!  I wasn't able to visit Greenwood during the month of December and was thrilled to be able to visit again in January.  The animal species change throughout the seasons at Greenwood, but the hard work and dedication of the staff and volunteers do not.  On the day I visited, January 2nd, everyone was busy preparing for the patients and season ahead. After taking pictures, I even helped out by stacking paper products in the storeroom! 

Birds are often the most prevalent wildlife at Greenwood during the winter.  There were several Pine Grosbeaks and I was able to photograph one while it played with its food.  Here it is shown with a meal worm casing.  There were also several types of waterfowl at Greenwood.  Geese can become victims of errant buckshot during the hunting season and ducks often come in with feathers that have lost their water repellant properties.  Below are pictures of a Western Grebe,  a  Northern Shoveler (a duck with a wide brimmed bill) and a Canada Goose. The ducks had received a special bath to rid their feathers of toxic oils and other substances that harm their feathers and now they are waiting for their feathers to re-oil and become water resistant again so they can be released.  Look closely at the Northern Shoveler's feathers and you can see how useless they would be at staying warm and dry!

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