After all the stress the last 12 days over a photo of me being posted on Facebook that attracted 127 unpleasant comments about birding ethics (!), I was absolutely desperate to get out for a few hours on 5 March 2019, even though I really didn't feel like going. After losing so many hours of sleep ever since then, I would happily have climbed back into bed instead, even more so once I hit the highway south. There were so many huge semi-trailer trucks and at times they seemed to be in competition with each other. I don't remember it usually being this bad.

Anyway, I headed south-east of the city, not east. The whole Facebook mess has left me feeling like I shouldn't go in that direction, though, needless to say, plenty of people are still going out there.

The weather was beautiful and milder than the last 6 or 7 weeks of deep-freeze. First of all, I did the usual drive around Frank Lake - and saw nothing. After driving a few roads north of there, I again saw no birds, other than four Magpies. Feeling totally uninspired and my heart just wasn't into it at all, I ended up calling in at the Saskatoon Farm on the way home.

A plate of delicious quiche, a few potato wedges, fruit salad and a much-needed cup of coffee were so welcome. After that, I asked if the huge greenhouse was open. When I tried to get in, I couldn't and had to ask someone to drag the extremely heavy door. Someone must have closed it sometime, as when I went to leave, after spending time with two pigs, lots of chickens, turkeys, domestic Helmeted Guineafowl, two bunnies and lots of House Sparrows, I couldn't budge the sliding door. Same thing with the other three doors. It was ages before someone heard my banging on the door and I was so thankful when a young man turned off his snow-clearing machine and yanked the door open. I told him that I had visions of having to sleep there overnight!