Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Sunday Wildflowers. #2
Hi everyone and Happy Sunday to you! It is a mostly cloudy day with some light snow, though the sun did shine for a while earlier this afternoon. And it’s cold. Today’s high temperature is -4F (-20C), and it’s windy, making it feel more like -26F (-32C). That makes it a good day to enjoy the warmth of some bright wildflowers from summer.
Today it is the Fireweed.
Another odd name for a beautiful wildflower since everyone thinks that because it has the word “weed” attached to it, that means it is undesirable, which is certainly not true. It is so named because it is one of the first wildflowers to bloom after a forest fire has gone through an area. And they can be very prolific in such areas, similar to a weed.
They are big plants with bright flowers which attract numerous pollinator insects, like bees, flower flies and butterflies. This helps to bring insect eating birds which repopulate the area. The dead plants of Fireweed also help to fertilize the soil. Anyway, I hope you enjoy today’s photo. Have a great week everyone and God bless!
Steve. ©2026 Steve McLeod.
Chickadee Fun!
Hi everyone! I’m sort of back once again. Hopefully tomorrow I will get back to some regular publishing once more. It’s been an odd week and a hard week for me with a lot of changes happening all at the same time.
But, right now, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to share some chickadee photos with you. Most are ones where the chickadee is looking right at me, which is always nice. They are probably trying to figure out what I am, “sort of a curious looking creature,” I’m sure is what they might be thinking.
They are amazing little birds that stay here year round and can survive our long winters, even when temperatures fall as low as -50F (-46C). They are cheerful with their loud voice calling out their name, “chick-a-dee, dee, dee”
They actually have several different calls that they make including a loud two-noted whistle. They are basically a slow flying bird, but are able to zig-zag through thick brush with ease which helps them escape predators like the shrike.
During the winter they basically eat constantly through the day because if they don’t get enough food, they will not survive the long cold night. They are very friendly little birds and will readily land on a person’s hand to get food. I have had several on me at one time, sitting on my hand, arms, shoulders and head!
They are definitely one of my favorite birds and we have two species here, the black-capped chickadee which is by far the most common. Then there is the boreal chickadee which seldom comes into town and seldom comes to bird feeders.
However, they are just as friendly when they do show up and will also come to a person’s hand with a little patience. Today I’m only showing the black-capped chickadee and I hope you enjoy the photos. Have a great weekend everyone and God bless!
Steve. ©2026 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 