We continue to have cold winter weather (and yes, I do need the "cold" modifier for "winter". It's colder than normal this year.) but the critters are still out and about. The juncos provided entertainment around the bird feeder with large numbers of them hopping and flitting around on the ground and in the air. For variety, a few other birds like cardinals, titmouses, wrens, and nuthatches frequented the feeders also. And to break things up, a squirrel dashed by then and again.
I hadn't been to the "lower forty" for a couple of weeks, so I bundled up and took a walk around to see what I could see. The ground was covered with crunchy snow that wasn't too deep anymore. The crunch of the snow was almost as satisfying as the crunch of the fall leaves. And to be honest, I didn't see too much because I didn't spend much time looking. I spent more time paying attention to the cold and the wind than I did other things. However, there was a standout among everything else--deer tracks. They were everywhere. I know we have deer in the area, but I didn't realize how much they traverse every part of the yard until I saw their tracks.
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| Although we haven't had much snow this last week, we haven't had much sunshine either. |
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| The deer tracks pretty much crisscrossed the entire backyard. |
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| The cows were closer together than normal. I assume to keep warm. |
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| Dark-eyed Junco |
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| Female Cardinal and Junco |
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| Tufted Titmouse |
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| Female Downy Woodpecker |
You and my husband would enjoy talking about backyard birds. Since our garden is buried in snow and he can't stare at that out the window, he stares at the birds. :)
ReplyDeleteI love deer tracks--probably because they are the only animal tracks I can identify with any certainty.
You don't have to explain "cold" and "winter" to me--we are experiencing the same. Typically we get breaks in the weather and it can warm up into the 40s for a few days (and melt some snow, bonus) but not this year.
I don't know much about birds, but I can identify a few common ones. I work with someone who is totally into birds and she is often showing me an interesting picture or movie on the internet involving birds. Not much of what she says sticks, but I do enjoy it.
DeleteYour bird photos are really lovely!
ReplyDeleteAs with many photos, they are so much lovelier than their pictures shows.
DeleteThis year I think we all need to add cold before winter. I love the deer tracks I wish I could get out into my field to get a better view of where our deer prefer to be, it would be a big help in planning the garden beds. I know the general areas they wander through but am sure that's not it. Speaking of deer my youngest granddaughter enjoys watching her deer come right up to the house. One afternoon one needed to take a bathroom break. She called out through the window "You supposed to use the bathroom".
ReplyDeleteI also thought I knew the general areas the deer like to go in my yard, but didn't realize that it was everywhere. I wouldn't be surprised if you had the same thing.
DeleteYou must have so much fun spending time with your grandkids. You never know what they will say. :)