Tuesday’s Tidbits. #8

Good morning to everyone! How are you all doing today? It is cold again with a temperature of -20F (-29C) with a light wind. But, the sun is shining beautifully and the birds are busy at the feeders. There are 15 Pine Grosbeaks now and about the same number of Common Redpolls. Chickadees also number about 15 now and nuthatches are 3, perhaps 5.

I have not seen any woodpeckers yet this morning, but the blue jays are here, 4 of them anyway. The Pine grosbeaks come about 4 times a day now, so I am using up sunflower seeds a little faster than before. I might have to get some more next week by the looks of things. It is nice to have those Pine grosbeaks around again, even if they are in fewer numbers than last year. The males are that beautiful red and the females are a blend of gold and gray.

Down at the river on a cold February day.

Both look even more beautiful in the sun. And they are quite friendly, and will come down to the feeder with me standing right next to it. Unless I have my camera, birds just do not seem to like having that camera so close to them. I will try for some updated pics the next time they show up. They will not be here much longer, so I have to hurry. I will just have to make sure my bare hands are warm while I am out there. I hope this week is the last of our cold winter weather.

Female Goldeneye ducks at the river in January.

We are supposed to return to normal temps by Sunday. That will be nice. Hmm, it seems there are very light clouds moving in now, blocking the nice sunshine a bit. I hope it does not get completely cloudy before those grosbeaks come back. I was hoping to get photos of them in the sun, looks so much nicer. Hmm, I see Baxter is out here looking in the window at me. I wonder if that means there are no peanuts left out there? Quite possible.

He often calls loudly if he comes and there are no peanuts. He wants to let me know he is here. That is nice of him really, then I know when to put the peanuts out. This is about the time he shows up for his lunch. He eats a bit early. Yep, he was right, there were no peanuts left from breakfast. Kind of sad to see Baxter all alone now.

Beautiful female Pine grosbeak.

I wonder what happened to Betty? Guess I will never know the answer to that one. Baxter was the only blue jay out there, actually, he was the only bird out there when I tossed out the peanuts. In this kind of cold weather other years, it would mean birds would be here all day long. Not so this year. Very strange. Well, time for another cup of coffee. Have a wonderful day everyone and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2023 Steve McLeod.