Wild Winter Needs To End

What a crazy winter this has been and as of today there really doesn't appear to be any end in sight to the madness.

Normally I can handle the snow but the cold weather is what usually bothers me. This year however we've seen higher snowfall amounts combined with the frigid temperatures and I'm nearing my breaking point. The thoughts of going "Postal" are creeping in. Okay, not really but I've had enough of it.

I've lost count the number of times I've had to shovel the driveway or use the snow-blower since November. I've had to replace one rear window in my car that blew out one night the mercury dipped to minus 30 and I picked a good time in my life to start lifting weights because it came in handy when I spent three straight days chipping four and five inches of ice out of the driveway and the walkway.

I'm not a skier and I don't own a snowmobile. I don't like ice fishing and while I'm sure those who do enjoy these activities have had a wonderful winter season, I truly hope their fun is about to end.

The only interesting thing that has come from all of this cold weather is the ice formations on Lake Ontario. The Great Lakes have seen nearly all of their surface area covered in ice this winter which hasn't happened in a very long time.

At Presqu'ile the waves combined with the cold have created some impressive ice volcanoes and formations that are really quite something to see. In recent years on my visits to the park there wasn't much ice at all but this year really made up for it.

I'm not one to venture out on to the ice because I just don't trust what's happening underneath it but even from the shoreline I was able to get a few photos of life in the winter at the park. But I won't lie, the green grass and leaves on the trees can't come soon enough for me.
 

Is This January?

Sharp-Shinned Hawk
Originally uploaded by *Bundy*

Before I say anything I want to be completely up front on this. I'm not complaining!!!

What is going on with the weather? Here it is mid-January when we should be seeing temperatures well below freezing, snow falling from the sky and me bitching and moaning about how miserable I am and how much I hate winter.

Instead, all of the snow we received over the Christmas holidays has all but vanished, rain has replaced the snow and the temperature is about 10 degrees above freezing. I actually saw people riding on motorcycles today.

As I said, I'm not complaining and I'm quite certain this little trip north by the jet stream will no doubt end soon. After all, February is typically the coldest month if memory servers me.

I'll enjoy this brief reprieve from having to scrape the ice off my car at six in the morning before I go to work. Not having to hold my hands up to the heater to thaw them out is something I know will happen again before Spring arrives, much to my dismay.

Of course I had to take full advantage of this amazing weather today. I grabbed my camera equipment and headed out to Presqu'ile Provincial Park and went for a nice long walk. There was snow back in the bush but most of the roads were clear for walking.

I came home with a few photos worth keeping including the one I've posted here. While I'm no birding expert, I'm pretty sure it's a Sharp-shinned Hawk. I was just getting ready to head home when he flew past me and landed on a feeding station nearby. I was able to snap four frames quickly before he spotted me and got out of Dodge. I was pretty happy with this one.