Good morning and Happy Saturday to all of you! Hopefully it will still be morning by the time I post this anyway. The temperature this morning was a very nice 32F (0C) and it is now 36F (2C). I was out early putting the feeders up for the day and I stood out there for a while enjoying the beauty of early morning solitude. It is quiet at that time of day. It is just getting to be daylight.

Chipper the chickadee was here first this morning. He showed up not long after I went out. Chester was the second chickadee. They both land on the feeders next to me, grab their seeds and off they go back to their favorite bush to break open the breakfast. They are soon joined by several other chickadees, about a dozen altogether. Then the nuthatches showed up, but only two this morning. Neither was Ned, the friendliest nuthatch.

The male downy woodpecker was here early this morning too. He is getting braver all the time and will sit on the suet hanging next to me. This is solitude. Then the blue jays showed up, so I went inside and got some peanuts for them. There are 12 of them that come, representing 6 breeding pairs. Blue jays, and Canada jays, mate for life. Which means they stay with the same mate until their mate dies. Then they will take a new mate.

Many different species of birds are like that. Some of the blue jays, such as Baxter and Betty, will come down for the peanuts, even if I am standing close by. That is also solitude. The birds have mostly gone now, but they will come back later, after lunch. Although the blue jays will be here at lunch time. That is when I put out more peanuts for them.

Then they get another bunch of peanuts at around 3:30pm. That way it keeps them around all day. I want that so they can protect the smaller birds from the shrike. The shrike that was here earlier seems to have gone elsewhere, and that is fine with me. I do not like having that bird around. Neither do the blue jays.

With them it is hate at first sight. And they will chase that shrike far away. That part is good since it helps save the little birds. It is cloudy and we might get some showers this afternoon. I hope not, because it will freeze tonight and stay that way now, and that will mean a lot of ice and slippery snow. Sometimes warm weather this time of the year is not so good. Oh well. I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2022 Steve McLeod.