Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Morning Coffee Time! Singing Birds, Playing Squirrels.
Good morning everyone and Happy Friday! The milder weather remains with a temp this morning of -8F (-22C) and it should reach a high of 15F (-10C), not bad at all after those frigid two weeks we just came through. And it’s a nice sunny morning once more, although so far the sun is just touching the tops of the trees. It should be a nice day for a walk to the river. I haven’t been down there since that cold weather hit us, so I’m sure there will be some changes. I imagine the river will be completely frozen now, there just isn’t enough water going through the dam to keep the river ice free in that cold. Poor ducks, they will have to stay on the upper part of the river and below the dam now.
But it shouldn’t be too long before the river ice begins to disappear again. When I went to put food out for the birds this morning at about 7:15, which is usually well before the birds arrive, I heard something. It was the chickadees and they were singing their spring song. Normally they sing their name, but closer to spring they start singing a different song. It’s a two, sometimes three, part whistle, very nice and clear and cheery. They will sing this song any time of the year, but in spring that becomes their main song as they begin to choose mates and stake out their territories. Lately they have just been too concerned with getting food right away, no time for singing. But now that it’s milder they can relax a bit.
Yesterday Jasper and his mate Sylvie showed up but only Jasper came over to get some food, Sylvie stayed sitting across the fence on a large tree branch. It was sort of nice out there so I sat for a bit and talked with Jasper. “Hi Jasper, nice to see you again, how’s things going?” Loud chip. “Yes, I can see her over there, she’s a beautiful squirrel.” Chip. “You’re having a great time together? That’s good to hear, I see you out there running around the trees.” Loud chip. “Oh, you don’t like all the running? Too much running? Well, she just wants you to stay in shape.” Chip. “You can stay in shape without so much running? Hmm, it looks like you’re enjoying things though.” He stops and looks, kind of like he’s in a dream world. Then off he goes and the two of them start running through the trees again. Jasper caught her that time, I don’t think she was trying too hard. Yep, I think Jasper is enjoying married life. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve’s Bird Of The Day #16.
Hello everyone! Here we are with another one of our woodpecker species. This is the “pileated woodpecker”, and this one is a big bird, a little larger than a crow. It’s a spectacular bird with it’s large red crest which both male and female have, this one is molting a bit. This is the male which can be told by it’s red “whiskers” stretching from the base of it’s bill to it’s cheek. The female is black in that area. These big birds can dig out some huge holes in trees going after grubs, like this one has found, and ants. Woodpeckers, however, never kill a tree, it’s the insects that the woodpecker is trying to get that kill the tree. I have seen huge holes, more than 20 years old, made by this woodpecker species in large pines and yet the pine is still growing healthy. Well, I hope you all have a great day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 