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.