Our winter storm has come and gone....we got less than 4 inches of snow, so not as much as had been predicted, but we did end up getting the ice. I hate ICE (unless it's in a margarita). The temps continued to rise steadily into the overnight hours last night and the snow eventually changed to rain. I called my mom early this morning because I wanted to make sure they weren't planning on venturing outside--after watching both my dogs flip over on the ice when they went out this morning and then me almost doing the same thing trying to rescue them. Mom said when she went to bed last night it was 34 degrees on her outside thermometer--not good.
We had at least a quarter-inch of ice on top of the snow....
.....and everything else including the driveway, the deck, and the birdfeeders.
Here are the "bird feeder ice removal" tools--a scraper for the tray feeders and a screwdriver to chip ice out of the holes in the tube feeders.
Cleaning the feeders didn't turn out to be as much work as I thought, the biggest challenge was getting to the feeders. Here's a short video so you can see and hear what a full-figured woman sounds like walking through snow with a quarter inch of ice on top....
Can you imagine the fear a little mouse under the snow would feel hearing something like that walking towards him?? FEE-FI-FO-FUM!!
There were lots of hungry birdies visiting my backyard today, but I was really surprised to see these guys......
Brown-Headed Cowbirds (guess they didn't get the memo!)Also a hungry Cooper's Hawk.....hope it got a house sparrow.....I counted over 120 today for Project FeederWatch, so there are plenty to spare.
I'm doing the winter storm coverage kind of backwards, so tomorrow's post will be some pictures of the bird activity in my yard from Saturday during the snow.
11 comments:
Wow - up here in Bloomington, no ice, just snow. I feel for you! I also hate ice, and I'm sure it will make the commute on Monday just terrible.
That's a great shot of the Cooper's Hawk. We have one in our neighborhood, but I've never been able to get a picture.
(PS - this new Blogger thing of not allowing a non-Blogger user to leave a blog address . . . well, I like it just as much as I would like 1/4" of ice on top of our snow.)
We have your storm right now. We had 6 inches of snow and now it is raining. I can just imagine what the Monday morning drive will be like! Had to laugh at your video. Crunch crunch crunch. I got so fed up with house sparrows today that I brought my feeders in. As you say, they come by the 100s and eat so much seed!
Be careful on that ice girl. We don't want to read about any broken bones.
You've got ice--and snow!
Just catching up from a rather grueling week.
I like your new picture--giant beavers??
All the crunching ice makes me cold just hearing it! Hope all the feathered friends found good shelter. Stay warm!
Hi Tracy,
Just snow is so much easier to deal with (unless you're trying to drive to work!)
I was lucky to see that Cooper's--I heard the bluejays screaming outside and when I looked out all the other birds were gone and the hawk was perched where the cowbirds had been. It flew away (without a sparrow) right after I took this picture.
Hi Ruth,
Be careful! Ice is so indiscrimate--no one can maneuver on it--even the juncos and squirrels were slipping around.
Hi Lisa,
On the snow it's not too bad--just dig my heel in first to break through the crust. Hopefully a sunny day today will melt it off a little...
Hi Nina,
I noticed you took a few days away from blogging... Glad you're back and hope you're staying warm.
Hi Jayne,
I watch lots of the little birdies fly back & forth from my thick evergreens and also the big brush pile. Good protection from snow AND hawks.
I'm giggling away here at the office. Your video is a riot! Oh, I do remember the FEE FI FO FUM of my feet (and ass) breaking the ice.
Ice scares the living crap out of me. I've fallen too many times (once saving a dog, like you). When I step on ice, I stiffen life a board and fall backwards. It's psychological since my last fall that put me in the hospital.
Be careful out there!
Your video is just too funny and I can laugh because I am another full figured woman :-)
I made it back home where we have 6 inches of snow and no ice but spent the snowstorm in Duluth where we had 10". With ice like that did you lose power?
Hi Mare,
I did fall once (forward and on one knee-got a bruise from that one OUCH!) I try to be careful, but being somewhat naturally clumsy doesn't help either, so I got the spousal unit to go around the yard on the ATV and break a bunch of trails for me and the dogs, so it's much better now.
Hi Marsha,
I'm glad you didn't have any ice--I think it was pretty much in the southern 2 tiers of counties. We didn't lose power (thank goodness). Snow is much easier to deal with without ice on top of it.
Like the Hawk photo but I don't want to hear about ice.-I drove in ice all day.I read your posts in reverse order so it worked out well.Ruthiej-you post a heck of a lot more than I do!
Hi Larry,
I think I've become a blog addict!
Freezing rain and ice in the winter is something we never used to have when I was just a young'un....I think that's another sign of global warming.
Driving in icy weather is no fun at all!! Be careful out there
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