Good morning everyone! I hope you are all having a good day so far. Well, this huge snowstorm that was supposed to be of historic proportions has turned into a normal snowstorm. We were supposed to get 20 inches (50cm) of snow, but we have only had 8 inches (20cm) so far and there is only a very light snow falling now. We might get another 2 inches (5cm) of snow yet by tomorrow morning. Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy the forecast was incorrect.

Although even with this amount of snow it looks completely like winter again. Especially since we still had 12 to 16 inches (30 to 40cm) of snow on the ground from winter. So everything is very white again. And the birds are very busy at the feeders. I made a couple of enclosures for the birds where I can put seeds and they won’t get much snow on them. The juncos and redpolls found them quickly, but mostly they are used by the juncos.

There are at least 30 plus juncos out here now. So juncos from the area are finding out about Steve’s Birdseed Restaurant and they keep passing the word around. But along with all the little birds there also comes danger. Large flocks of birds attract hungry hawks looking for an easy meal. While I was watching out the window yesterday afternoon a Sharp-shinned Hawk came swooping in and caught one of my chickadees.

That fright scattered the other birds in every direction and it took 15 minutes before they began returning. Soon the area was alive with little birds again. Counting all the different species of birds there are well over 300 once again. And they will be around for a few days yet I am sure. The weather is not going to warm up quickly after this storm so our snow will be around for a long time yet. That means the birds will continue to need some extra food.

Speaking of food, this is the time of year that bears start to wake up. Yes, they will do so even with snow on the ground, especially if they did not get enough food last fall. That could be a problem, so I have to keep watching my feeders just in case. Hopefully the bears around here were well fed so they sleep late this year. Oh well. Time for more coffee and blueberry cupcakes, would you like to join me? Have a wonderful day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin. (praying for the people of Ukraine)

©2022 Steve McLeod.