Last winter was warm and we got barely any snow at all. The previous winter (2018) was not quite as warm, but we only got a bit of snow. So imagine our surprise when a predicted snowstorm turned into a real snowstorm. In the two years since anyone had to shovel anything, we’ve gotten older. Our backs are worse. Garry can’t and Owen shouldn’t. The idea of me shoveling produces laughter even from The Duke.

A quick look out the side of the house

Owen had no work today. His boss called and said “Don’t bother.” He didn’t bother, but he baked a loaf of bread and a meatloaf and fed the birds twice. Garry fed the birds the third time. They eat like mad when it snows. And there were so many birds out back this morning, it was wild. Every bird in the area came. We scattered a lot of seeds on the ground because the feeders were packed with snow and they were having a hard time getting to the feed, though by the end of the day, they had dug through enough of it so Garry was able to clear them off. The squirrels did a pretty good job digging out the flat feeder and seemed to be having a really good time chasing each other up and down the trees and the steps to the deck.

A red red Cardinal on a snowy feeder

Hairy Woodpecker

Also, for the first time, I saw two red males cardinals on the deck together and they didn’t attack each other. One was much smaller than the other, so I’m guessing the the small one wasn’t yet breeding age and thus not in competition with the guy who was probably his dad.

Overall, the birds didn’t do much squabbling or banging each other off the feeders. They were hungry. We had food. Everyone got some, though one squirrel was very serious about his occupation of the flat feeder. He’s the one with the big round butt and once he dug his way through about a foot of snow to get to the seeds, nothing was going to move him, including us. We weren’t trying to move him anyway. We were just putting out more seeds. I think we went through an easy five pounds of seeds and that was just the stuff we threw out onto the snow on the deck. I ordered more seeds. We need them!

See you later!

Categories: #Birds, #Birds, #gallery, #Photography, #Squirrel, Cardinal, Wildlife, Woodpeckers

Tags: #Photography, #Squirrel, birds, Marilyn Armstrong, snow