Waiting for the thaw

I woke up this morning later than customary for a weekday, just before seven. And yet the online thermometer read still read a chilly -12.8C. As I begin writing this post, just before seven the same evening, the temperature has shot up to -1.1C. Right now, half past eight, as I finish, it's -0.5C. Tomorrow and Wednesday, the forecast is for temperatures above zero - and rain - heavy rain. Rain that will wash away all this winter gorgeousness and turn it into a melting grey muck. Odwilż - the thaw. Something one dreads.

Above: the last snowfall of the current snowy spell? Ul. Marszałkowska, by Trasa Łazienkowska. Snow is swirling about, giving a fresh coat of white to the piles of dirty snow piled up on the pavements.

Uwage sople! Beware, icicles! View outside the office window, Al. Szucha. These beasts are getting ever longer and heavier as melting snow off the rooftops drips down and re-freezes. Our ones are not particularly dangerous, as they would drop onto several parapets before eventually landing, fragmented, on the courtyard.

Above: the flutter of grey pigeons - tupot szarych gołębi- on a pavement recently dusted with snow. Note their footprints.

Right: dealing with rooftop snow and icicles, corner of Pl. Zbawiciela and ul. Nowowiejska. The job's being done safely. The guy on the roof is wearing a harness; the pavement's been roped off; another guy is on the ground warning the shoveller of impeding traffic. Worth remembering that today's the seventh anniversary of the Katowice Trade Hall disaster.

Above: clearing the muck from the steps of Metro Polityechnika. A mixture of snow, meltwater, salt, soil - filthy stuff indeed. Slippery and filthy. And when the snow starts properly melting, any hour now - then the streets of Warsaw will be awash with it and things will be truly horrid - Wellington weather!

This time last year:
At last - some winter gorgeousness

This time two years ago:
New winter wear - my M65 Parka

This time three years ago:
Winter and broken-down trains

This time four years ago:
A pavement for ul. Karczunkowska?
[Hopes dashed. No, after four years - still no pavement]

This time five years ago:
Just when I thought winter was over...

Sunshine brings out the best in everything

Since sliding gently from summer into autumn on Wednesday, the weather has been perfect. Today, the sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky with the temperature reaching an extremely pleasant +22C. Just before leaving home this morning, I espied the neighbour across the road exercising his flock of pigeons.

Round and round they flew, and as their wings caught the direct blast of the sun's rays, there was a sudden flash of purest white that a moment later disappeared as the birds darted up at a different angle. A most beautiful sight at any time of the year, but one predicated by the brilliance of a blue sky as background and a lack of clouds occluding the sun.

Do the birds feel the same joy as we humans do in the presence of the sun? Is it sunlight or high air pressure accompanying cloudless skies that raises our spirits? I would posit that all surface-dwelling creatures within our universe feel elation in the vigorous presence of their local star's benign rays. Not burning at this time of year, but warming and life-enhancing. Look at the spiders in their webs (nowhere nearly as big this year as they were last year), ants and beetles. All seem to express greater joy and vibrance in their movements when the sun shines on their backs.

Incidentally, the pictures above are 'as was' without any tweaking whatsoever in Photoshop - and no polarising filter. The sky was indeed this blue. Nikkor 80-400mm at 400mm.

Dove in the house

Moni's excited shouts had Eddie and me running up stairs double quick. A dove (presumably one from across the road) had flown into our house and was rather comfortable about it. It was evidently used to humans as it allowed us quite near and I even managed to pick it up. And it was clean too - leaving two small whoopsies in the house, neither of which soiled any rugs or bedding, only easy-to-wipe wooden floors.

It must have been slightly disorientated, as it flew into Eddie's room rather than out onto the balcony and freedom. In the end, it allowed me to gently pick it up and place it on the balcony, where it dined on a handful of muesli and fell asleep. By the morning, it had flown off, presumably across the road to its pigeon loft.

Below: The following evening, our dove was back with the flock, doing what it loves doing best - swooping, diving, soaring, racing around in a huge circle around its dovecote.

Wild or domesticated?

Is this a wild Eurasian Collared Dove that I photographed on ul. Trombity today - or is it a domesticated Barbary Dove bred in captivity? I can't say I know enough about birds to judge, but there are quite a few pigeon lofts along ul. Trombity, and it allowed me to get quite close to take this picture - but it does look like more like a collared dove. What do you think?

Looking up over Jeziorki

A beautiful cloudless day over Jeziorki. Halfway down ul. Trombity, a pigeon loft takes exercise. By chance, a northbound Boeing 747 passes overhead at 35,000 ft. The juxtaposition of flight - white birds, white contrail - against a clear blue sky is quite stunning.

The greatest show in Jeziorki

The most popular traditional pastime in Jeziorki is pigeon flying. This is not long-distance racing with homing pigeons, rather getting the birds in the air, circling around and around. Visually, this looks best against a blue sky, the white birds seem to appear then disappear as they wheel round. In the photograph (left), we see a local resident atop a stepladder by his pigeon loft (bottom left of pic). He's waving a long stick topped with a blue flag. He's whistling while doing this.

The birds respond by wheeling ever higher, then swooping down at speed, soaring back up, climbing all the while, then, after several minutes of intense flying, they eventually make ever-smaller, lower circles, finally returning home to their loft.

(Right) The birds at the climax of their flight; their wings are beating rapidly, they pick up speed in their dives. The clouds have passed, the evening sunshine is strong, the birds look as if they are enjoying the experience of communal exercise. A close-up examination shows that they have been tagged with pale green bands on their right legs.

The sight of large flocks of white pigeons wheeling around the skies is characteristic of Jeziorki; there are several lofts on ul. Trombity, Karczunkowska and Sarabandy. Below: The birds are returning after a brief evening flight; their loft is to the right of the picture.