Wednesday, January 7, 2015

January 6, 2014...Winter has arrived


I looked out the front door yesterday morning and this is what I saw.  Somewhere between three and five inches of snow ( 7.6 to 12.7 cm) had fallen during the night.  Our winter usually starts in earnest sometime in early January.  The day was beautiful with bright sunshine.


This is what I saw from the dining room window.

 My little camera doesn't take good photos of the birds at the feeders because the patio is unlit but the yard is bright with sunshine.  I asked Tom to help me out.  The following bird photos are his.


Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor).  We have had titmice for two years now.  Our area must be providing a better habitat for them than it did in earlier years.


American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis).  The goldfinches are duller yellow in the winter than they are in the spring and summer.


The Dark-eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis) have come down from Michigan and Canada for the winter.


Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis).  It is always a pleasure to see the flash of bright red as the males fly in to pick up a oil sunflower seed.


The Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis)  also stop in for a change of diet.  Out in the yard they have buried dozens of nuts from the walnut tree.  It is not unusual to see them digging through the snow to get to those buried treasures.

The birds and squirrels have good appetites so we keep busy putting out seeds.  They will need all the energy they get from the food they eat today.  Our predicted temperature for tonight is -5 degrees Fahrenheit (-20.556 C)

1 comment:

  1. That Cardinal is so beautiful!! We don't have them here...my parents in town have them occasionally:)

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