More Winter

Another dose of winter tonight. More snow flurries wind and cold. Didn't actually get Lake Normal, but got a start on it until the cold came back. Took several pictures yesterday morning, but used the burst feature and it takes multiple shots in a few seconds and I don't know how to separate the individual shots yet. Will try to upload one of these with this posting.

Could it be the Foxs are back?

Even with all of the snow still piled heavily around the yard the dog has been running all over the yard and particularly from front to back of the garage. Clearly an animal of some sorts has begin to inhabit the cave under the concrete garage floor. We will have to keep an eye out to find what creature we have now? It would be neat to have the foxes back for another litter. They didn't bother anything and are beautiful creatures to watch. Look out rodents!

Squirrels were out playing this morning, had to have the dog chase the frisky one off of the bird feeder, the others just don't have the wits to navigate the milk jugs and pole to get to the bird feeder. Several of the birds have returned which gives hope for Spring time bird watching to be more exciting.

If we get the rain storm predicted tonight we could have Lake Normal in our backyard. What with the amount of snow still present and rain on top of that the water will have no place to go for a period of time. Maybe we will even see ducks in the back yard. It wouldn't be the first time. Last year we had two mallard that found the corn in the yard and returned for a couple of days. I think the dog and cat scared them off, or maybe the foxes found them out.

No this not one of my pictures! This would be scary having a lion out back. Think it was from an advertisement for hair care product.

A brighter day.

Sun is out and the temperature is warmer the snow is melting and well we had probably better stop as the weatherman is predicting more inclement weather. A friend has forwarded a couple of pictures of an Albino Peacock. Maybe these will brighten your day.

The Big Melt Down

Today continues the melting of snow received this past week. Wife was trying to decide if she should spread the grass seed out on the snow so that when the snow melts the seeds will be sucked down into the ground with moisture to germinate for a lush Spring and Summer grass. I wonder how many birds will be attacking the grass seed?

The back yard has been fairly calm the past few days. Plenty of feed out for the birds but not a lot of birds taking advantage. This morning a common grackle, lonely dove, our downy woodpecker and a red bellied woodpecker could be spotted in the trees.

Several squirrels were sneaking around in the trees this morning but none had ventured out to feast on the corn. I would have thought with the warmer weather that more activity would be occurring.

According to the Central Illinois Birding Forum google group more sighting of predator birds have been noted around Woodford and McLean counties. Eagles have been spotted flying overhead as close as Normal, Hawks are in abundance, and both long eared and short eared owls have been nesting in the area. I haven't spotted any of these creatures near our back yard, but not seeing some of the regular juncos, gold finches and sparrows kind of makes me wonder what is keeping them away. We have had a pair of cardinals that appear late at night but not the numbers we have had in the past.

No new pictures as how many photos can you take of a squirrel or a Downey woodpecker? Snow is everywhere so even the snow and melting drifts aren't picturesque.

The good news is that a month from now Spring will be here!

The Day After

All that is left is the snow and cold. The snow is so deep the dog doesn't want to wander the yard sniffing at every corner. Now she just stands on the concrete slab until she can not hold it any longer and then slowly she proceeds into the drifts which reach her shoulders.

Today it was back to work so no bird or critter watching except for a brief lunch break. The Carolina Wren was back at lunch time, but not enough time to capture on film, or should I say digital. The pictures are from late Tuesday afternoon and before 9am this morning.

Looking South on Wednesday morning.



One of the Downey Woodpeckers up in the tree.



Not sure what kind of bird this is, thought maybe a sparrow, but no bib.



Winter scene looking South from Tuesday the day of the blizzard.



Red Belly Woodpecker at the suet feeder.

Now this is a Wintery Blast!

The wind is blowing the snow is falling and I am safely at home, what do I care if it snows out today, I've got my heated indoors! Well did alter the song a little, but tis true. I got my snow blower ready yesterday so assumed it would not snow, boy was I wrong.

Squirrels were all out this morning attacking the corn including the ears on the bungee cord. Wife wondered if we were being cruel to the as they had to jump to get to the corn, but it was still fund to watch and they did get fed.


Plenty of bird action today. The Snow Birds have been out and about at all of the feeders. Our Downey woodpeckers took notice and served notice to the Snow Birds that the suet was theirs. The other feeders have been pretty peaceful as the variety of birds have been sharing time.

Today we have had 6-7 Snow Birds, a male and female Northern Cardinal, two Downey Woodpeckers, a White Breasted Nuthatch, couple of starlings, one crow, with about 50 more in the neighborhood, a couple of sparrows and a few Morning Doves.

The pics above are from this morning.

The Week End! Finally!

Pictures of the day.






Saturday has come and almost gone. Spent part of the morning feeding the critters that wander into our back yard. One of the newer feeders seems to be losing the seed very quickly and most ends up on the ground. Haven't been able to determine who's the culprit. Is it a starling looking something better than Safflower seeds or a squirrel? Maybe a house sparrow? I have noticed that the sparrows have not been around much this past week. That is until this morning and one was in our big feeder scratching away the sunflower seeds.

I think one of the squirrels also knocked down the suet feeder that the Downey uses so now will have to find another way to mount.

Included tonight are a few more pictures taken yesterday and today. A Dove and Snow Bird feeding on the safflower seeds on the ground, three squirrels cleaning up what the sparrow knocked out of the feeder, a Nut Hatch running the tree for insects, my Downey Woodpecker on the tree and probably a Snow Bird (Junco) feeding on the fallen thistle seeds.

Winter in Illinois

Winter scenes from this morning. Ducks on the Pond, well they call it a lake but it is not a big lake. Not much water for swimming and no shelter from the cold and snow.




The Normal Back Yard was active this morning. Our two Downey Woodpeckers had visited, four Gold Finches and couple of Dark Eyed Juncos and a pretty female Northern Cardinal. Squirrels were feasting on the corn and the snow was falling quickly.

One of the Central Illinois Bird Watchers spotted an Eagle flying over Normal yesterday, my ability to identify birds is extremely limited so even if I did see one I probably wouldn't post it unless I was absolutely sure. Predator birds are making their way in town as I have confirmed as other bird feeders have reported to those at Wild Bird Unlimited.

What does the Sun look like?

Above are three pictures of the Sun taken around noon. The top and bottom pictures were taken through the screen and window pane and the middle picture merely though the window pane. There is no art here, no great pictures, simply proof that the Sun does exist and is bright in spite of the extremely cold weather.

Super Bowl Sunday is over and the Bears lost, but the Sun still came out today so life will go on and we can look forward to the Chicago Cubs upcoming season. Expectations are high once again as new additions have been made to the team and most Cub fans already are thinking World Series. This ole Cub Fan still isn't convinced that the Cubs will be on top next fall. Maybe I a pessimistic, certainly I am cynical as I have often been told that, but I predict that the Cubs will not be in the World Series and if by chance I am wrong they too will end up second.

Last night another event happened that was verily reported. As the wife and I were casually watching the Superbowl we noticed a bright light traveling through space from the Northern sky to the Earth. The ball of fire was very bright with a yellow outer glow and we first thought the neighbors had sent a bottle rocket up into the air and it was heading downward, but there was no explosion or noise. We listened for sirens or anything as it appeared that whatever had fallen through the sky had surely landed somewhere in or just west of Bloomington. Later on the evening news my wife heard that others as far away as Oklahoma had seen this same sight and the answer appeared to be "space junk" entering the Earth's atmosphere.

I have seen shooting or falling stars many times before, but this was something else! The size and brilliant brightness were amazing and no other experience I have had equals what I saw last night.

Baby it's cold outside!

Okay, which one of these is the bear? The wife took this as we returned from New England in September of 2005. Somewhere is Pennsylvania.



"Goats running loose" in city in Iraq, picture courtesy of my son.




Kids love football(we call it soccer) all over the world and Iraqi kids are no different. Photo courtesy of my son




An old song had the lyrics "Baby it's cold outside" and today is one of those days! While the sun is shining it is still very cold. Yesterday I stopped at Wild Birds Unlimited and discovered that we are not the only birders with feeders not seeing many birds. They indicated that the unusual weather could be confusing the birds and too hawks seem to be checking out the bird feeders around town. Yesterday we had a few birds, but today it seems to be very quiet.

Super bowl today, will the Bears or Colts win? Will I watch the game or not is another question. Today is the Monk marathon and really enjoy Monk! One thing for sure is that I don't want to go out in the cold anymore today! And it could get crazy around this college town if the Bears win.

Where have all the Birdies gone?

Ah! The early morning snow that we could actually see and enjoy. I was up enjoying but the wife was still sleeping. A few squirrels were out and about, but the birds were no where to be seen.

Where are the birds? Today is a little perplexing as few birds have been at the feeders thus far. Is it the snow? Is the Hawk back? or are they just finicky eaters desiring only Wild Birds Unlimited's "Deluxe mix". This weeks feed is from a local retailer and is supposedly black sun flower seeds desired by all song birds. My wife thinks the birds are rebelling about the feed.

A couple of quick pictures from this morning. Note the snow flakes drifting down around the squirrel. Sorry Mrs DOF no sun or sunlight to photograph today.


Squirrel bathing in snowflakes early in morning




Early morning snow through the tree



Squirrel perched on tree limb - Vertical Limb in front of squirrel is detached from tree and perched on the same limb stub