Tuesday’s Tails. #32

Posted on December 7, 2021 by

35 Comments

Good morning everyone! Well, it is another rather, um, chilly morning here with a temperature around the -22F (-30C) point. More of a typical winter cold for December and a bit warmer than yesterday, though perhaps “warmer” is not really the appropriate word since it really is hard to notice any difference. The poor birds are looking cold this morning again. Frost around their eyes, their feathers so puffed out they look twice their normal size. The suet is so frozen now that I can hear the little nuthatches pounding on it from inside the house. Sounds like they are chipping away at ice.

Male downy woodpecker at the suet.

All those little birds, nuthatches, chickadees, redpolls, are truly amazing little critters. They manage to survive the coldest of our winters. Though when they do not have bird feeders nearby to visit, a lot of them don’t survive the winter cold, depending on the wild food crop. Speaking of redpolls, there were several around the feeders yesterday, happily foraging through the sunflower seed shells left behind by the evening grosbeaks. They always find bits of sunflower seeds mixed in there. When they come around in this colder weather I will smash open sunflower seeds for them with my hammer. It makes things easier for the little birds.

I do the same with peanuts which gives them a bit more food energy. They always go after those peanuts first when I put them out there. We had ice crystals overnight, they sparkle so beautifully as they jump and twirl around in the light on the deck. Much like snowflakes, they have either 6 sides or 6 points and are solid ice. I took pictures of them last winter as they covered the snow and look very beautiful. They can make streets and highways slippery though. They often indicate that snow is on the way. We are supposed to get some snow tomorrow night, though not much.

Ice crystals on the snow last winter.

Jasper was here yesterday afternoon, he looked cold too. He was just sitting on the feeder eating sunflower seeds, so I went out with some peanuts for him. I had to go and check my mail anyway. He was very happy to get the peanuts. Those little squirrels are tough too, running around in the cold. I wonder how Scramble is doing these days? He is my squirrel friend down at the river, I have not seen him since July which was the last time I was at the river. Maybe I will try a walk down there later this week. Thank you for reading today everyone, I hope you have a wonderful day ahead and God bless!

Steve and Muffin. (the top featured image is our lake which is now frozen in that section)

©2021 Steve McLeod.

Category: Beauty, Birds, Cold, Country Pleasures, Fun, Happiness, Nature, Photos, Positive, Snow, Uncategorized, WinterTags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

35 Comments on “Tuesday’s Tails. #32”

  6. Those ice crystals sparkle like diamonds in the sun ! So pretty ! Always enjoy the pics of your friends ! 🙂😻🌨❄️

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