For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Good morning to all of you on this fine day! It is another cold day out there. Seems like I have been saying that nearly every day this year. That is probably because it has been cold nearly every day. It just should not be so cold this late in February. It is unusual. Though it does happen sometimes. But at least there is no snow in the forecast for this week. That is certainly nice. And by Saturday it should start warming up a bit. That does not mean warm, just warmer than it is.
And even the first week of March is looking good. March. That is the month I start thinking of spring. That does not mean that spring will arrive in March, even though the calendar says it does. But at least spring is close once we enter March. Jasper was out here bright and early this morning. Sitting on the main bird feeder eating sunflower seeds. So I had to go out and remind him that the lower feeder is for him, the tall one is for the birds. And it is a cold morning. And the birds were waiting to eat.
He did not seem to like my reasoning. But he did move. Reluctantly. There were lots of peanuts for him too. But at times he really likes those sunflower seeds even though they are so tiny. Guess he likes a change in diet now and then. Yesterday there were quite a few grosbeaks again, mostly the evening grosbeaks, but there were half a dozen pine grosbeaks too. This morning there were 2 evening grosbeaks, but they did not stay, and no pine grosbeaks. But there is lots of the smaller birds, though even the redpolls are down to just 37 birds now.
Quite a difference from the nearly 200 that were around before. That could be an early sign of spring though. I hope. Spring. Such a nice word. I really do start to dream of nicer weather this time of the year. And I start looking at my summer pictures a lot more. I never realized how many photos I actually have now. Makes me wish I had sorted them better right from the beginning. I have begun the sorting process, but it is going to take a long time to get it done.
The last 15 minutes that I have been writing I noticed something outside. That is, there is nothing outside to notice. I had to get up and look. There is nothing out there, not a bird in sight. That is not right. It is a cold morning. There should be dozens of little birds out there now. Not one. Finally I saw two birds, a chickadee and a nuthatch. They each took a seed and left. Gone. That shrike must be around again. But if he is, he is certainly out there a long time.
I could not see him anywhere, but he can hide himself good in the tops of the trees. That shrike is around too much this winter. Normally I would have a dozen or more blue jays and they kept the shrike away. Blue jays hate shrikes. But this winter there has only been 2 blue jays and they are not around much. Oh well. There is still nothing out there. I need to make more suet cakes today too. Thank you for reading my chatter today. Have a wonderful day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
Β©2022 Steve McLeod.
Sorting photos is a lot of work!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I am certainly finding that out! It is going to take a lot of time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
π
LikeLiked by 1 person
I guess Jasper is trying to eat a well-balanced diet…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Guess so, hardly seems worth while eating those small seeds when he has peanuts, but he must like them!
LikeLiked by 1 person
like us, I guess squirrels aren’t always rational…
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a good point!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have never seen a shrike…birds and squirrels are hiding out…somewhere…keep warm and sleep well tonight ! ππ»π€π΄
LikeLiked by 1 person
Shrikes are hard to see since they don’t often come down low enough except very quickly when after a bird. Getting harder all the time to keep warm! Have a great day!ππ»πββ
LikeLike
Spring is coming, get ready for more beautiful picture and moments to capture, carefullyπ and sort pictures ? it’s a lot of work, take care of your eyes and don’t fall asleep while doing so. 30+ birds are quiet a view. Glad you had that beautiful moment, able to capture the moment? if yes, share it to us ππ and have a great day β¨π₯³π₯³
LikeLiked by 1 person
Too early to get too excited about spring, maybe in 2 or 3 more weeks I can start thinking about it. No pictures lately, it has been too cold out for pictures,π₯Άπ·π Maybe it will warm up a bit next week so I can get more pics again. Enjoy your day Simon!ππΊπββ
LikeLike
It will It will Uncle Steve, let me send some warm air to North Canada π¬οΈπ¬οΈπ¬οΈπ¬οΈπππ Did you get it π I sensed the words of clear sky today π
LikeLiked by 1 person
Around here a clear blue sky means very cold! At least in winter, like right now. It will be a bit milder next week hopefully.π€π³ππ
LikeLike