Return of swans in February

(updated 2012-05-17)

This winter has been exceptionally warm.  The ground has been free of snow most of the time.  I have been able to ski only twice by now (2012-02-17). The warm days have been surprising, but nothing has surprised more than the scene of swans in the pond of Heartbreak Road which I pass by during my morning jog. There has been a swan couple in the pond for many years. I do not know if they are the same couple.  They usually return to the pond in March or April, but I saw them on February 16 this year.

My utility bill has been lower than usual due to the warm weather. The following chart shows this:

Since there is neither heating or air conditioning in September, we can use it as the baseline to compute the heating consumption of energy as shown in the following chart.  This gives a good idea about how warm this winter has been:

The average heating energy consumption is 24.4 KW/day for 2010-2011 winter, but 18.2 KW/day for 2011-2012 winter - a 1/4 drop.