This Crow was wading at the shore of the Connecticut River at Haddam Meadows State Park. As Crows will do, he poked, dunked, and tried to eat any number of things.
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This piece of trash kept his attention for a few minutes then he went back to dunking acorns.
Levees are not that common in Connecticut and it looks like it has been quite awhile since any water has climbed the sides of this one in Windham. Mansfield Hollow Lake is formed, or enlarged, behind the levee and the water empties through a dam into the Willimantic Reservoir.
Walk a little over a mile on the levee to come to the “end of the road” where a gate and sheer walls turn the walkers and joggers back the way they came. It’s hard to imagine the circumstances when water would overflow this structure.
Lovely water reflections made up for not seeing any birds on this December afternoon.
The temperature rose to nearly 70 degrees in central Connecticut today, which is most unusual for December 24th. Late this afternoon I walked around our back yard and was surprised to find a Black-Eyed Susan and a Purple Violet in bloom. Both flowers looked like they had been chewed on, likely by some bug that also shouldn’t be out at this time of year.
The Downy Woodpeckers kept to their routine as the afternoon light waned.
Northeastern Connecticut is dotted with small ponds, lakes and reservoirs. Now that we are fully into “brown” season we explored a few last week and were rewarded with smooth water and reflections. The evergreens in the photo above were the most colorful thing around. We didn’t see much for wildlife this December day, either.
Hampton Reservoir and the pond at Brown Hill Marsh were as smooth as a mirror, with puffy cloud reflections. (Click to enlarge photo or view as slide show.)
The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is aptly described by Cornell Lab’s All About Birds as being “overflowing with energy!” As a small flock of them darted in and out of this small fruit tree I tried to work out their flight pattern. Almost like a helicopter they changed direction midair and proved elusive to photograph. They flew quite close to me without seeming to care about my presence, and flitted off just as fast. Chickadees came and went at a more leisurely pace.
Downy Woodpeckers are fun to watch as they rotate around a branch. This one stopped to peek where a limb had broken away. 
The trees at Meigs Point are a popular spot for these Woodpeckers, sometimes giving their location away with their tat-tat-tat searching for food.
The late December afternoon sun at Hammonasset Beach State Park provided a nice light for photographing these Chickadees. Several of them were flitting in dried reeds near the beach.
Others were hanging out at a fruit tree near the marsh.
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After seeing the Bobcat on Sunday the rest of our walk was quiet. Birds were mostly elusive, leaving me wondering if the big cat was watching.
The White-throated Sparrows and Song Sparrows did make an appearance and nature still has plenty to show as November ended.
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