The weather forecast for a foot of snow last Sunday didn’t become reality however the temperature has dropped down to 0 Fahrenheit plus windchill factor of -20 Fahrenheit. Icy rain water from Sunday turned into solid ice on all surfaces. Our driveway, from which we cleared wet snow & slush off and salted, still became skating rink. Wherever I look there is either frozen snow … Continue reading Winter Birds
Lending A Hand To Avian Friends We have been hit by a brutally cold winter since Christmas that has become much worse in the last couple of days. Yesterday and today the temperature hovering in the single digits, Fahrenheit, during the day and dropping down below 0°F at night. This number does not take windchill into account which would drop it into negative double digits. This … Continue reading A Brutally Cold Week
And Enjoying Bird Watching Snow is still on the ground, a residue of the snowfall a few days ago. It’s very peaceful watching snow falling and the quietness afterward as the snow absorbs sound pretty well. Though it was too cold to go outside, a joyful moment was still there. We hang bird feeders along the patio roof during winter which makes it much easier … Continue reading House Bound
Enjoying The Hospitality Winter temperature has finally matched the season and there is not much of anything out there. Snow has not yet paid a visit. The birds have picked most of the seeds off the buds I left in intact for them: Echinacea, Black-eyed Susan, Goldenrod… So now they enjoy the additional food we put out for them. On cold days they can enjoy a heated birdbath too. We … Continue reading Birds of Winter
Crucial For A Harsh Winter I spent most of New Year’s Day watching birds in our garden. It was cold outside so I mostly just watched them through the glass of the patio door. I took the camera out for only half an hour at a time, until I felt numbness creeping into my fingers and toes. Since there wasn’t any snow on the ground, though it was very … Continue reading Birds And Water
And Frigid Cold We got hit by snow storm Hercules last night to midmorning today. The snow itself accounted for little accumulation, only six inches or so, but the frigid wind was another story. The temperature is around 3ºF now but the strong wind makes it much colder. I’m really concerned for our honey bees, that they may not survive this winter. I left the … Continue reading Taking Refuge From the Snow Storm
Making Peace For Their Survival After we finished preparing our beehives for the winter, putting a cold frame over the winter vegetable plot and cleaning up most of the leaves it’s time to focus on our avian pals. We don’t feed them in summer because we don’t want them to depend on us completely for their survival and we want them to have some incentive … Continue reading Truce Among Birds
When Nothing Blooms Outside Winter. I have a love-hate relationship with winter. I love winter best when it’s snowing and its aftermath. The snow wipes out the sad look of bare branches and turns the world picturesque with dull gray turning to glistening white. The quietness, since the snow absorbs sound so effectively, renders the world peaceful too. There is not much I can do … Continue reading Birds of Winter
Petals and Wings 