Snow reliefs and sculptural designs have appeared on and around the architecture of natural forms and human-made structures. See, here, deciduous twigs and evergreen needles meticulously painted with white brushstrokes. And, there, a standing, windswept wave on the hood of a car. Sunbeams elicit sparkle.
Winter at its most visually captivating includes a diversity of birds winging in for high-energy food at my most modest of bird feeders. (See below.) As I write, a male downy woodpecker fends off an aggressive male slate-colored junco, aka “snowbird.” Tufted titmice wait for a turn, seemingly patiently, in a nearby hemlock tree. Red-bellied woodpeckers and equally large hairy woodpeckers have feasted and flown away.
Oh! Could it be a red-breasted nuthatch hanging near the tip of a hemlock twig, repeatedly pecking at a dangling cone? Do I see the little bird seize a nourishing seed? He takes flight.
Lately, at an elevation of 1,700 feet in the Berkshires, it is typical to find a sheltered thermometer register minus 6 degrees before sunrise to plus 9 degrees mid-day.
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Stockbridge — Celebrated horticulturist Karl Gercens III will headline Berkshire Botanical Garden’s 29th Annual Winter Lecture, exploring how bold color, unexpected plant pairings, and fearless experimentation can spark moments of surprise and delight. The lecture will be held Saturday, Feb. 21, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Lenox Memorial Middle and High School in Lenox, Mass. For more information and to register, visit BerkshireBotanical.org.
North American Blizzard of January 2018 and a “historic bomb cyclone”
