On February robins, '60s skaters and a 'Snownado'
A single partridge in a pear tree? So what.

How about 30 robins nibbling berries on a pear tree - during the first week in February?

That's the sight that greeted Mary Spiece when she opened the blinds at her front window on the morning of Feb. 5.

"I couldn't believe it - it was a sight to behold," Mary Lou said of the out-of-season feathered friends perched in an ornamental flowering pear tree at her Greenbush Township home.

After snapping some pictures to document the scene, Mary Lou telephoned us here to report the incident and then called a neighbor who she knew would be interested in the rare bird sighting - and, maybe explain what robins were doing in the dead of winter in mid-Michigan.

"Bernard (Feldpausch) lives nearby - I thought he'd have an answer for their appearance," Mary Lou said, noting that after a 'Bernie-like' first response to her query, he offered the logical opinion that the robins had probably never left the area in the fall.

"Bernie said they'd most likely spent the winter in the woods, rather than fly south," Mary Lou said. "They sure picked a cold winter to stay here."

That's a fact. Here's betting the little robin red-breasts are pretty sorry that they made that decision.

After her first sighting, Mary Lou saw the flock of robins in the same tree on each of the following three mornings - along with a few cedar waxwings - until it was stripped of its bright-red berries.

"They were hungry," the life-long Clinton County resident said. "I certainly hope they make it through the rest of the winter."

So do we, Mary Lou.

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Another telephone call last week from another Greenbush Township resident helps solve the mystery behind the 'old' photos of the St. Johns City Ice Rink that appeared in the Feb. 2 issue.

Ann Brown called to say that two of the young skaters in the night-time photo were her children, Sandra and James. Another daughter, Barbara, would have also been skating that evening, but is not shown in the photo.

"We went skating there quite often in the early 1960s when the kids were young," Ann said, recalling the fun times. "I remember the little warm-up house that was there, too. There was no heat inside, so it wasn't really too warm. You put your skates on in a hurry when you got inside - and started skating to warm up."

We're still hoping someone can identify the men shown in one of the other photos who are flooding the ice rink. Based on Ann's information, that picture probably was also taken in the early '60s.

Give us a call.

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In keeping with the weather/nature theme for this week, meteorologists will be happy to know that there's a new name for the freakish winter storm that blew in - and out - of the county last Tuesday night. Sid Lounds, husband - and sometimes 'photography assistant' - for our colleague, Sue, says it was a "Snownado."

An apt description if I ever heard one.

It certainly sounded and felt like a whirlwind was rattling the windows and doors out here in Riley - and the circular motion of snow in the yard looked just like the White Tornado that used to be in the old Ajax (or was it Mr. Clean?) commercials.

So, it’s official - a Snownado touched down in Clinton County Feb. 11.