Once Again

The predicted snow arrived around two yesterday and carried on for a few hours.

Temperatures began to drop and the birds crowded the feeder.

Beautiful feather patterns on this fella--some sort of sparrow, I presume.

The Rufous-Sided Towhee seems a tad offended by the whole thing.

At one point, there were three pair of cardinals on the crabapple--and two more at the feeder. 

There may be more snow. We are hunkering down. Fire in the fireplace, spaghetti sauce bubbling on the stove, plenty of books, a new (to us) series to watch--Jericho of Scotland Yard. Quite enjoyable but an amazing amount of smoking going on--it's set in the Seventies. 

 

Remembering NC Mountainwoman

As I sat at the dining room table, taking pictures of the winter birds at the feeder, I was reminded of a long-time and sadly missed blog friend, Carolyn Powell, aka NCMountainwoman.

She and I never met in person, but we shared a love of wild birds, dogs, reading, liberal politics, and our granddaughters--almost the same age.

A virtual friendship can be quite real, and the loss of a virtual friend leaves an ache in our hearts. 

Carolyn has been gone for quite some time now, but I look forward to occasional Facebook posts from her son, documenting Carolyn's granddaughter's funny sayings.

My life is richer for having 'known' Carolyn and for all my virtual friends.

That's one social interaction the pandemic can't mess with.

                                                                                       

Snow Birds

Yesterday's snowstorm brought the usual crop of birds to our feeder -- cardinals, juncos, red-bellied woodpeckers, blue jays, titmice, etc.

But we were surprised by a big flock of common grackles -- I don't think we've has a visit from them before. They are quite beautiful -- iridescent blue/green head and shoulders.

Alas, all my pictures were though rather cloudy windows -- it was way to cold to lurk around outside till the birds weren't alarmed.

The new visitors hogged the feeders and we put extra birdseed on the porch railings, as well as refilling the feeders. 

We are staying warm and staying put. The driveway up to our house is passable only by the jeep with chains.

Wednesday night lows around 10.

But a warming trend is on its way with the fifties by Friday -- let's hope the birdseed holds out!

Through the (Dirty) Window