I had an idea for this week’s post percolating in my mind and partially on paper all week long, yet here it is Saturday and it just hasn’t come together. Writing, just like everything else, requires some adaptability. So, this will be a pivot and maybe that idea will come together in a future week.
My bird friends have shown their adaptability all week long. Last weekend we had our first snow of the year, just an inch or so at the lake even though my dad got about three inches and he’s only a couple miles to the north. It warmed up for a day or two and then we plunged into the deep freeze for a couple of days with morning windchills down near zero (Fahrenheit). This weekend we’re expecting highs back near sixty (F).
Robins form huge roosts here in the winter, partially to stay warm in these colder months. I watch them leave the roost each morning, with dozens to hundreds flying over and into the nearby trees looking for breakfast. These birds who compete with each other for mates and nests are perfectly able to cooperate all winter long.
On Tuesday, I found myself surrounded by the most bluebirds I’ve ever seen at one time. There were at least twenty, but possibly more. It’s hard to count when they are all moving around in the bushes and trees! It had never occurred to me that bluebirds might roost together, but they are in the same taxonomic family as robins. I have since learned that they do, in fact, roost together in the winter though not in groups nearly as large as robins. They will utilize the same kind of cavities they use for nesting in summer to keep warm in winter.
When it gets really cold and the lake freezes, birds will huddle together out on the ice. Ducks, geese, and gulls all use this strategy to roost on the ice in winter. Geese seem to prefer it, even when open water is available. Their body heat can often melt a patch of ice and give them access to the water when they form a group like this!
Birds are amazingly adaptive in so many unique ways. This week I read that Wisdom, a Layson albatross and the oldest known wild bird, laid an egg for the first time in four years. Albatross mate for life, but Wisdom’s last mate of many decades hadn’t been seen for a few years. At 74 she has found a new mate! I have been following Wisdom for about a decade since my dear friend Mary introduced me to her. Imagine the level of adaptation it takes for this bird to keep laying eggs and raising chicks for 70 years!
(You can read the story here or look for Pacific Islands: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on whatever social media apps you use.)
When I first started walking at the lake, I had no intention of being out in the cold! I had no intention of being out in the dark either, yet both are now a regular part of my year. I adapted slowly. I discovered the peace of the sunrise and then learned that the best colors happen before sunrise. I can’t remember when I first discovered that the best sunrise colors occur when it’s really cold, but I the earliest January sunrise photos in my file date to 2015.
Adapting to the seasons is largely about having the right clothing! Permethrin-treated gear in summer that breathes and layers in the winter. I mentioned my five-layer mitten system in Friday’s post, so I thought I would tell you the story of how it came to be.
For the first few years, I tried different kinds of mittens and gloves. I quickly discovered that a) mittens are warmer and easier to manipulate the camera in than gloves and b) whatever was on the palm side of my hand needed to be thin and pliable. Leather and nylon weren’t going to cut it. I also discovered that thin and pliable weren’t very warm or wind resistant, but no one was making the type of mitten I needed.
The first adaptation was creating an outer mitten made of high-quality polar fleece to pair with an inner wool mitten. I’d toss a handwarmer packet in with that, but I still couldn’t spend a long time out in serious cold. I made a bigger outer mitten out of a wind-proof fabric and the fill from some thick commercial mittens, but that has to be pulled off to use the camera so its value is limited.
Eventually, I created a second version of the outer polar fleece mitten. This one has three layers of polar fleece on the back and only one on the front. Extra layers on the back don’t get in the way of working the camera, though they do make the mitten a little bulkier and slightly more clumsy to use. I’m grateful I picked up enough sewing skills from my mom to make simple things I need!
About three years ago, I discovered beaver skin hand warmers from Aurora Heat, and they now go in between the wool mitten and the fleece mitten on the back of my hand. I give gratitude to the beavers every time I wear them, they have made an enormous difference! (PS - the toe warmers are also awesome!)
This year I found two additional layers that can go on the inside of the wool mitten. This became necessary when I started using my phone for photos, because I can work the camera with mittens on but not the phone. I can’t even unlock the phone with a balaclava on without using the touchscreen. The fingerless wool gloves go inside the wool mittens. With no additional layer on the pads of the fingers, they allow me to work the camera and if I pull the outer mitten off I can work the phone camera. I’m amazed how much warmth they added.
Lastly, only on my left hand or when it’s really cold, I will also add the thin, wool glove liner. It’s supposed to enable the use of the phone, but it doesn’t work that great so I only wear that one on the right hand when it is really cold - like wind chills of zero (F). In those conditions, I’m likely to carry a second camera and skip using the phone anyway.
The great thing about the mitten system is I have lots of combinations for different weather. I’m always aiming for the least layers necessary to keep my hands warm. My need for disposable hand warmer packets has greatly decreased. The only component that seems to wear out over time is the wool mitten, which eventually wears a hole in the thumb or first finger area.
I hadn’t intended to write a whole post about mittens, but as you can see, mittens are near and dear to my heart. They allow me to do something I love and that is priceless. My mitten system - and the birds even more so - show me that adaptability has a lot of ingredients. It requires patience, resiliency, creativity, persistence, and the willingness to fail forward until you succeed - and then be willing to shake it up one more time.
Watching the birds and thinking about my own journey out in nature, I’d say adaptability requires at least two more ingredients - curiosity and joy. I would never have persisted in mitten system improvements if my curiosity about what I might find in nature and the sheer joy of birds and other beautiful things didn’t draw me out again and again. As I said, I never intended to be out in the cold, but boy am I glad I have adapted!
I know I’ve adapted many times in my life, but it’s good to remember just how capable I am when a new challenge comes my way. Where in your life have you adapted to conditions you never expected or intended?
Your attention to detail and creativity coupled with good old-fashioned common sense is staggering! Making your own "custom" mittens, no less! Yes indeed! Where there's a Karen will there's a Karen way! Brava! :-)
Love knowing how you have devised your way to keep your hands warm and still useful. Thanks for sharing it! And thanks for the pics of the amazing crowns of the golden-crowned kinglets!!! I knew nothing of any bird being able to display a crown like this!! Oh how funny it would be if we humans had anything resembling that capacity for the visual Big Head!! Can you imagine what it would look like when Congress is in session?! :-)