Cold & Windy

Wow - we're back to winter today. I keep a weather radio by the bed and listen to it every morning before getting up. Today at 4 AM (when Rick's alarm clock goes off) the temperature was 19 degrees with a sustained NW wind of 30 mph giving us a windchill of . . . 1 degree! (at least it was still above zero) I'll tell you what, it was really a struggle to get out from under the covers knowing that's what we were facing for the day. To top it off, we had snow flurries for most of the day. The weatherman predicts that we won't see temps near normal (50 degrees) till the middle of next week.


This flag across the highway is my "windvane." At 6 PM this evening it's still standing out almost straight!

Poor birdies! I walked up to the cafeteria and credit union and saw a poor robin sitting in a crabapple tree in the courtyard. She looked soooo cold. On my way back to the office (about 10 minutes later) she was still sitting in the exact same position. There wasn't even any dried up fruit left on the tree for her to eat. I watched a couple of robins in our yard this afternoon digging around in the leaf debris trying to find something to eat. I think all the worms are frozen back in the ground.

However, I did spot a yellow-shafted flicker in our yard while eating supper. I know some folks around here had them all winter, but this is the first one I've seen so far this spring, so that was a good thing.

All the rest of the birds are spending most of their time on the ground -- too windy to fly. Here's a look at the feeding frenzy that's taking place under the tray feeder.

The tube feeder closest to the dining room window is finally empty of the "cardinal blend" that the grackles love. Now I'll be filling it with safflower seed to discourage those black pigs. The house finches really like safflower seed -- looks like I'll need to find a larger tray to accommodate more guests. The house finches also like the window feeder but only 2 can eat here at a time.

Maybe the sun will come out again tomorrow. This time of year the sun is pretty warm if you can get in a sheltered area. Hopefully the birds will get a chance to warm up a little too.