February Already!

What craziness happening with the weather! Warm almost Spring like weather and then we get blasted with snow or sleet or rain? Late Sunday afternoon I was driving to a budget meeting at our church an notice light flicker. It was more or less snowing at the exact time so I thought it might have been car lights reflecting or traffic signals flickering. As I parked at the church it happened again, this time I was sure it wasn't any of the above reasons, so I begin to wonder if it was my eyes. When one of the deacons came in he began talking about the lighting. I was relieved to hear that others had experienced the same thing and it wasn't my eyes or imagination.

Life has been pretty hectic since our after Christmas trip to see the new grandson. I was able to get a new squirrel baffle and get it installed. Since I needed a screw driver it only took me an hour to get my Christmas gift of a set of new screw drivers out of the plastic container. It is nice to see what you are getting in the set, but the plastic is unforgiving and you almost need a tool to strip the plastic. After two slight finger cuts and an hour of effort I was able to release all of the set pieces and place them in a storage bag which was included.

We have at least one squirrel and possibly two that had learned to negotiate the old baffle on the bird feeder. They would actually use the baffle as a spring board to flip backward and grab the top rail of the feeder to crawl up and feast. This new baffle has them perplexed! They craw up, slide down, circle the feeder a couple times and then repeat the process looking for a method to reach the feeder. My wife and I get a small amount of pleasure out of watching them seeking to circumvent this new squirrel baffle! Well, maybe a little more than small pleasure!

The backyard has been filled with snow and not is almost a pond after the snow melted and the rain. I am surprised that ducks haven't landed. Our neighborhood bunny rabbit has really grown. It is larger than our cat which is getting bigger everyday. We are still having the Downy Woodpeckers visit daily and the nuthatches are frequently around. Many doves and snow birds (Juncos) and in the last two weeks we have seen a lot of starlings. The Red bellied Woodpecker also has been visiting.

One of these days life may slow down for a few more pictures to be taken.

San Francisco Air and Water Show

I haven't been taking pictures for a while, been too busy, but a friend forwarded a really neat web site with many great pictures of this Air and Water Show in San Francisco.

Well Gram and Pop drove to Georgia after Christmas to see the new Grandson. Here is Patrick Reece Shickle the newest addition to the family.



Here is a pathetic squirrel! He has been visiting the back yard, wonder if he is going to make it through the winter? Got to be cold!



On our way home from Georgia we when through the southern tip of Look Out Mountain. Little did we know that The Grand Canyon of the East existed but we crossed a bridge in Alabama and found this beautiful stream with a rapids. Turning off to get some pictures we found The Grand Canyon of the East on the Little River. Here are a series of pictures taken from the twelve miles of winding road.

Sunday December 23, Snow gone but a visitor comes.

Sunday afternoon and the Bears and Packer are playing on TV. The Pack is getting beaten bad by the Bears and everyone is amazed. I decided to fill the feeders with bird feed and nuts. It is very cold and windy. Once inside I decided to check out the other scores on the computer and occasionly glansing to see if any new birds were visiting. Suddenly a rap on the window and I turned to see what bird had decided to visit the glass window and noticed a large bird fly up toward the house and land in our Sumac tree/bush. One other Chistmas day we had a Hawk visit and sure enough we have another one, this one a little more brazen as it was close to the house.

The first picture shows it with its back turned and you are able to see the tail. I am guessing it is a a Sharp Shinned Hawk as opposed to the Cooper Hawk. It does appear to be immature. I was able to snap off a few more pictures which were zoomed in more and the hawk obliged by turning around to face me. Look down to the lower right corner close to the house.

Out Back One more time

This is a decorated Christmas Tree at the Medical Center out back. Not only the the workers at the center decorate the tree with lights, but God decorated with His natural snow covering.



Our one Flicker made it out for a bite of nuts.




Our Wren couldn't resist the new treats/

More Winter Scenes from the Normal Backyard

This is our Snow Bench, not many people have one of these, see how the snow has accumulated and nearly covered.



The Snow Bench with the water bucket and Bird Snow Bath.



Even the Feeders had snow covered roofs.



A day after the big snow this pictures shows a drop sparkling from the snout of the water bucket as the snow began to melt.

More Winter Postings of December

The trees were covered with snow. Even the sides accumulated snow.



Here is a squirrel looking through the fence with the clump of snow on his nose.



Even climbing around in the trees meant plenty of snow sticking to the squirrels.




The Nuthatch wasn't deterred by the snow.