True, the high flying crow reveals the tone of the weather even before we step outside. Seeing birds in the wind, or even how animals behave, can give us clues to what it is like outside. I was lucky to see so much wildlife the other day. Several ptarmigan, one perched on an icy rock atop the precipice before flying off. A big mountain hare as white as the snow it was hiding in. A herd of large deer and a couple of other ptarmigan on the descent. Normally the dog chases anything off, or they smell him coming a mile away and clear out.
I knew that because those deer had made it down that way then I could, carefully, them on four legs, me on four limbs and rear end for safety. But how many times do we look out the kitchen window and see a bird battling to the wind, or soaring in a direction it intended not to go in. ‘Oooft, it’s a windy one’ I say and put an extra layer on, or tuck in t-shirts before going outside. What the hare and the ptarmigan told me I’d need to figure out but they both looked resplendent in their winter coats, so maybe that’s just a reminder to wear mine.