REt wrote:I know it was a slow week in the country so I imagine we all watched football or had your noses in the seed catalogs. Course SE is getting ready to sap his trees this year. Littleguns is clearing snow and.that keeps him busy.
Ret
Not much snow here lately in south-central Minnesota, not even enough to sweep off the deck. Lack of deep snow has been really good for the birds, squirrels, raccoons, possums, cottontails and deer, not to mention my cats who don't seem to mind trekking through snow as they make their rounds from the back door to the heat boxes on the deck to the heat lamps in the garage and in the machine sheds and back again. All the creatures I see look to be in good shape, and we're already a third of the way through January, with temperatures in the 30s promised in the coming week. Considering it wouldn't be unusual to see overnight temperatures fall to the minus-15 or worse range at this time of year, I can't complain. I've only had one propane fill so far this winter, and Groundhog Day is only three weeks away. With January traditionally our coldest month, this year I have to say so far, so good.
I like to watch last summer's fawns as they grow up and nuzzle around for corn and sunflower seed under my bird feeders outside the window. I worry about them in their first winter, but it's easy for them to dig through the slight snow to find still-green grass and weeds under it. It's fun, too, to watch the small flocks of ring-neck doves shuffling around under the feeders, occasionally charging at each other as if to say, "Back off! That seed is mine!" I've seen as many as a dozen at one time on the ground, joining blue jays, cardinals, juncos and dozens of sparrows. The sparrows also try their luck at the suet feeders, usually retreating when the red-belly, hairy and downy woodpeckers show up. The doves are gorgeous when they all fly off at once with the sun on their ivory gray feathers, looking like something released at a wedding ceremony. I've been picking up feathers to put in the hatband of an old hat I sometimes wear to gunshows. The gray squirrels (incuding three or four pure black ones) chase each other at high speed up and down and around and around on the ash tree to which I've attached a couple of table feeders. I don't know if they're defending territory or thinking of mating or simply playing; I wonder if they really know, either. Regardless of their motivation, it's amazing how fast they maneuver in the trees.
If it weren't for the wildlife to entertain me, my winter would feel a lot longer than it already does. Of course, I have many inside projects that need my attention, but it's a lot easier to just sit with my one inside chubby gray cat on my lap and snack too much, watch the activity outside the windows and wait for spring, when I will return to spending morning to night outside.
by REt » Sun Jan 10, 2021 8:03 am 