It has been dang cold! Record breaking...like 9F and then 11F degrees overnight for 5 days straight...and daytime temps barely getting to freezing, or one degree above. Just not what we signed up for here in the deep south! Daytime I chop wood, nighttime I binge watch Breaking Bad, wrapped in blankets, while I burn the wood in the fireplace! It's hard to get any rest when you chop and saw all day and are up and down every 10 minutes feeding the fire I'm exhausted! And you can see this is a morning photo of the conditions outside and inside my house! When I first got up it read 52 inside I had to put on extra heat to get it up to 57. This was on Thursday. And 2 days before....
SNOW.
We got about 1/2" in total, not a lot but some parts of the state are still buried. The coastal regions were hit with snow and ice...I'm just happy I'm not traveling right now that would not have been fun to have to hold up in the snow and cold. Southern weather is very unpredictable. So I've been keeping the bird feeders filled and I've had some nice birds in the yard...I heard Casey barking up a storm in the front yard, it was a Northern Harrier on the ground...I didn't see any prey so I think he tried for something and missed. Hope it wasn't Casey he missed? I didn't have the camera ready for that one.
I very seldom see these guys on the feeders..the Downy Woodpecker, with all the trees in the yard they have more than enough food...
Even tho they didn't hang around 6 Blue Jays were in one of the dogwood trees for a few minutes by the time I got this shot through the front window all but one had moved on. The never eat at the feeders anymore...I don't understand that.
Everybody is all puffed up from the cold as you can tell... bad for the migrating birds like the American Goldfinch they come here to escape northern winters...
American Gold & House Finch
I haven't been out with my camera searching for birds much don't want to take my gloves off to deal with the buttons...so these were shot on the run as I went about my chores in the yard...the Northern Cardinal is like a bright red beacon against the cold sky...it is almost impossible for this bird to hide.
I've been lucky to have not one but two Pine Warblers in the yard and they chase each other off the feeder, it's a nice bright limey green/yellow color almost breeding color as Spring is really NOT that far away! By late February some of these birds will be preparing for nesting! Of course that all depends on the fickle weather.
Pine Warbler
The puffy little Chipping Sparrow is one of my favorites they have some sounds that sometimes leave me guessing...I always seem to forget what great song birds they are...
The Hermit Thrush is not hanging around to get at the feeder he does expect some water to be provided so I gotta get out there and put out some nice warm water for him/her This bird looks small here but honestly he is nearly the size of an American Robin.
It warmed today to 34 It actually felt good! A Yellow Bellied Sapsucker came around checking his "holes" I made a video of him but my camera is really starting to misbehave and it never actually recorded.
The first week so far so good I didn't go anywhere just hung close by so I was happy to have these birds come to me.
chipping sparrows
A very cold start but hopefully we have 3 more days and on Tuesday it is supposed to start warming up some! I'm ready for that.
PEACE
Every day is a new Adventure.
A wonderful collection of birds. I left a note on Flickr about the Pine Warbler. I've read about the cold and its frightening with those low temps. 57F inside isn't warm when you're sitting around, ideally you need about 68F to be comfortable. Sparrows are one of my favourites too, a few years ago their numbers started to decline but they seem to have bounced back a bit. Stay safe and lets hope the weather improves very soon.
ReplyDeleteHI Dave! I wish there was a way to harness all that heat of summer and save it till winter...lol 57 is very uncomfortable inside! My Central heat does not work...and it's so expensive I probably won't be putting in a new one...not only the cost to put it in,,,,but it's expensive to service and repair if it doesn't work correctly...I'm planning on putting in an unvented gas heater. I have baseboard electric heat but it's soooo expensive to use. Normally we don't have this type cold weather for extended periods.
ReplyDeleteI know how the cold is inside the house. I was having those same temps awhile ago and luckily had a guy who was willing to check it out instead of trying to sell me a new furnace. Hope you get some relief soon. You have quite a collection of birds out in your yard. Feel sorry for the poor little things. I always wonder why they don't use the bird houses.
ReplyDeleteHeard we are in for another round of cold and hard rain mixed with some snow on the surrounding mountains tomorrow night and Wed. morning.
Stay warm if you can.
Jo it's been rough for a while but now we had 65 today and tomorrow 70! Then back to high of 40..what a roller coaster ride. I threatened to pull out my NY coat stuffed in the back of my closet!
DeleteThe weather is very much up and down hear at the moment, below freezing and barely getting 1 or 2 degrees above one day and then jumping up 5 or 6 degrees, doesn't sound a lot but it makes a big difference here! Lots of frost! I think i'd be quite happy staying home if I had your birds in my garden :)
ReplyDeleteHi Pam...the little feathered friends are eating me out of seed! But I'm not complaining without them to entertain me, I'd be going stir crazy.
DeleteOof I hope you warm up soon. 52 inside is not pleasant. Love your pine warblers and sapsucker! I went to see a Yellow-bellied yesterday that's been using the same tree for two months- it's a rare one here.
ReplyDeleteOH How exciting!! It is great when a rare anything gets close eh?
DeleteA king eider has been listed down at Myrtle Beach...only 2 have reported is so far if it continues I'll probably head down there.
And I got a gift not long ago...spotted a yellow bellied SS in the yard and I've been trying to keep my yard list more updated so it went in for that week..and I noticed my life list increased by one...What?? Guess I had not bothered to enter it when I started adding my written lists to ebird! So it was like "wow, thanks"! :o)
Beautiful photographs Sondra, thank you!
ReplyDeleteHi Ann, somehow your comment went to my spam folder, I rarely look and there it was. Thank you for the visit!
Deleteit is a good thing to have a feeder where it is sheltered a bit. Seems very cold where you live. Love all the birds and great shots of them.
ReplyDeleteSquirrels attack and destroy if it's not at least 15 ft from any tree or object so it is exposed for sure.
DeleteGreat to see a Pine Warbler at this time of year. Makes it seem warmer even if it is not!
ReplyDeleteThe pine warblers make even a dull day brighter for sure!
DeleteWonderful birds -- so darn cold where you are. I forgot to say on your later post above that I couldn't believe you went camping in that weather.
ReplyDelete