Looking Back on 2014

I got a gentle "scolding" from a friend recently who's been missing my blog posts. So I decided I'd get one more in before the end of 2014. Working two and three jobs for the last few years has pretty much kicked my ass to the curb and left me with neither the energy or initiative to devote to weekly (or even monthly) blog posts. But for those of you not on Facebook or also missing my blog posts, I'll recap my 2014 with one picture for each month of 2014.

A beautiful January sunset

A February snowstorm was beautiful only to those who didn't have to worry about moving all the snow or figuring out how to drive in it! 

In March I took a trip to California to visit my brother.  It was nice to see green grass, water that wasn't frozen, and birds that wouldn't be back to Minnesota for a couple months yet.

April brought a few spring birds back to Minnesota, including this Robin who was determined to battle that "other" robin taunting him from the window reflection.

In May the colorful summer birds finally arrived.  They're the hope we hold in our thoughts and hearts during the long Minnesota winter.

Backyard critters enjoying June clover and other treats falling from the birdfeeder above.

A long July weekend in northern Minnesota gave me the opportunity to photograph this rainbow over Snowbank Lake after a brief late afternoon thunderstorm.

 

Thankfully we saw more Monarch butterflies this summer than last year.  An August Monarch took advantage of the Rough Blazing Star blooming in my backyard wildflower garden.

In September, this first year Cooper's Hawk was trying its best to catch one of the birds hanging out on my deck.  Unfortunately, no birds were caught, but I did get the chance to capture this awesome photo!

Fall colors delighted the senses in October.

Early one morning in November, this small buck showed up in the backyard to sample some of the corn we put out for birds and bunnies.



Happy Christmas from me and my pretty girl Holly the Pibble!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2014 Everyone! I hope all of you survived the "Polar Vortex" with no lingering difficulties. Minnesotans expect this sort of weather in January, but I feel especially bad for folks in other areas of the U.S. who don't have the resources to deal with extreme cold and snowy conditions. Earlier this week we hit -25, not a new record, but still TFC for most of us. Fortunately the cold snap lasted only a few days. Yesterday we had temps above freezing and some freezing drizzle early in the day which changed over to light snow in the evening. That soft ice coating on the trees caught and held the snowflakes quite nicely and we woke up to a winter wonderland. Here are some of the images I captured while filling birdfeeders earlier this morning. Hope you enjoy them from the comfort of your warm house!

The butterfly garden is waiting for spring -- hopefully only 4 more months!

 

Frosty asparagus remains

 

Highbush cranberries will be a tasty treat for robins when the come back in spring

These were purple coneflower blossoms last summer

Swamp milkweed -- seeds have scattered in the wind

 Kokopelli windchime still dances from a tree branch

The birds have picked all the seed from this small sunflower clean

 

Crabapples provide a treat for chickadees, cardinals & starlings

 

A lone oak leaf remains on this tree

 

Apples that didn't get picked provide a feast for bunnies & deer

 

Common mullein

 

A frosty apple ornament still hanging on the tree

 

Mountain ash berries -- we've found that deer love feasting on these!

 

Frosty evergreen

 

Enjoy the beauty of winter!

A "Spring" Day in Minnesota

Since this has been a winter for the record books here in Minnesota, I guess there's really no reason we should have expected spring to arrive on schedule. It's just hard to believe that today could have been so awful when just 2 days ago it was 50 degrees and sunny!

Thunderstorms with heavy rain yesterday and last night gave way to heavy snow for much of the morning. It's a good thing there are still a few crabapples left on some of my trees for my robins!

Lots of juncos still in the backyard although the birdseed I spread on the ground for them was covered by snow in a very short time. Fortunately, they were able to scratch and scrounge around enough to find it.

Little red squirrel took advantage of birdseed on top of this stump feeder. The snow doesn't seem to bother him at all.

Another little red squirrel discovered the full seed tray on my deck. I like how he uses his tail as a snow shield and also how his ears and whiskers collect and hold the snowflakes (click on the pic to enlarge it). They are little piggies, but still so cute & fun to watch.

Couldn't resist taking yet another cardinal photo. They're singing the spring songs, but still not actively asserting dominance for territorial rights in my backyard yet, so I'm still seeing a number of cardinals at the birdfeeders.

Here's a house finch, junco and goldfinch all taking advantage of the big birdfeeder. Just yesterday we noticed that grass in the backyard was actually starting to look a little greener!

It took a few attempts, but the downy woodpeckers finally remembered how to get inside the cage to the suet log. I had to put the cage back on the suet log because flocks of European starlings (who arrived back with the blackbirds and grackles) had picked this suet log clean. My starling trap has been getting a real workout this week (that's the topic for a future blog post.....)

Huge flocks of blackbirds arrived late last week. These are mostly common grackles and red-winged blackbirds, but I'm thinking there might be some rusty blackbirds and/or Brewer's blackbirds mixed in with these flocks too.

When we were out on a birding drive last Saturday afternoon, we got to hear and see some rusty blackbirds. They have a really distinctive song which I was able to identify with the help of my birdJam.

I don't know about you, but there's just something fundamentally wrong with seeing and hearing a spring/summer bird in this snowy landscape. (Maybe the birds think so too!) I'm pretty sure this is a first year male red-winged blackbird. Spots and wing bars are still visible, but it also looks like there might be a few of the red shoulder feathers appearing too.

And here's a really beautifully streaked female red-winged blackbird. The females are far less abundant at my backyard feeders, so I always consider it a rare privilege to see them -- especially this close!

The only nice thing about wintry weather this time of year is that we can be fairly certain it will be short-lived. Temps are are going to be pretty chilly for the next couple days, but highs in the 40s are predicted for the weekend. I've had my Nature's Window monitor turned on all day and am enjoying hearing all the spring bird songs even when it's just too nasty to spend much time outside.

Hope you're enjoying some spring birds in your backyard!

Some Miscellaneous Photos

Here are some miscellaneous photos I've taken in the last couple weeks.......

A female Pileated Woodpecker showed up at the big suet feeder right outside the back door. That was really exciting as it's the first time I've have a pileated in the backyard. She's come back a few times since then, but she's not a regular daily visitor yet.

Oops! Dropped some suet! Check out those huge feet.....I think that each square on that mesh is about 1 inch.

Here's a pretty snow-covered evergreen in the backyard......just one of many. The snow covered boughs provide some nice protection for the birdies that roost inside the snowy shelter.

Look what arrived in the mailbox today!! Nothing like a couple seed catalogs to get my mind off the sub-zero windchills and 2+ feet of snow piled up on my garden beds.

Looking forward to some fantastic photos in 2011 with the fabulous new camera that my Honey Bunny gave me for Christmas. Thank you Mr. Johnson!

Meteorological Spring

According to my friends over at the KTTC Precision Forecast Center, yesterday (March 1st) marked the first day of Meteorological Spring here in Minnesota. And after the winter we've had so far, I'll take spring in any way I can get it! Here's a look at what's left of our woodpile (nothing!)Last fall we had a full cord delivered and there were 4 stacks of wood piled 5 and 1/2 feet high between these poles. I kept the thermostat set at about 65 all winter and with my getting home early in the day from work, was able to start the fireplace most days and keep our house pretty comfortable. I was happy that we never had any gas bills over $100 this past winter and that's the first time for many years. In the end it probably all comes out the same though, because if I remember correctly, that cord of wood delivered last October cost us around $185. Oh well, Sophie and I enjoyed quite a few nice naps on the couch in front of the toasty fireplace. :-)

Even though there's still a lot of snow in the backyard, we can really notice where it's melted quite a bit. However, in the spring, this isn't always a good thing, as you can see by what's starting to show up underneath my birdfeeders. Here's what below where my 2 thistle seed feeders hang on the deck. Yuck!

And here are a couple more feeders in the backyard. Double Yuck!!

I can already see that I've got lots of cleaning up to do this spring (as soon as I can get my wheelbarrow out of this snowbank!)

Melting snow is also revealing quite a large number of Sophie's "deposits" from the long winter. Definitely time to start watching where I'm walking again!

After my last disastrous knitting project, I decided to start a new hat pattern on Sunday afternoon. This is "Quincy" from Jared Flood's "Made in Brooklyn" pattern book.

I really love the way this hat turned out! (keepin' it for myself too!) The main part of the hat is knitted in a strip, then you give it one twist and graft the ends together (so it becomes a tube). Then you pick up stitches around the top edge of the tube and knit the top of the hat. I love the beautiful details of the top and the I-cord edging all the way around.

I really love all of Jared's designs in this pattern book.....the hardest thing is going to be deciding which pattern I want to knit next!

Happy Meteorological Spring Everyone!