Monday, January 31, 2011

More Bird & Squirrel Photos-January 31, 2011


A pretty BlueJay. A Tufted Titmouse. A male Cardinal and a little White Throated Sparrow peeking through under the cardinal.


BlueJays in flight


A crow on the branch and as he flies off.


Love watching these squirrels eat their nuts. This one was so cute. Looks like he's been in a battle. His ear has a nick in it.


This one ran up the tree to eat his nut. It's safe up there.


And another squirrel posing for me. Ha!

I can't believe January has already come to an end. The time goes by so fast. These days I don't want time to go fast because I don't have that much time left.
I still have not seen any deer or foxes.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Critters Up Till January 27th 2011


This squirrel is eating a walnut and he is also burying one. I buy the nuts after the holidays when they are on sale. The squirrels love them of course but then start getting too aggressive because they want those kind all the time.. They only get these treats in the coldest weather.


A few of the birds in flight or landing and a Junco.


Cardinals, BlueJay, Starling and a pretty little Tufted Titmouse.


Squirrels and a Vole trying to fund some left over nuts in the snow. He's a fat one and gets plenty to eat around here.


A squirrel enjoying his food.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

January 24th Collages-It Was 21 Below Zero Here







All these critters survived the cold day. Don't know how they do it. At 21 below zero I'd think they'd freeze instantly like we would. I'm sure some do. I was worried about the foxes. I never see them much any more. I hope I do in the spring. I do put food out each night just in case they do come down.

Monday, January 24, 2011

January 23, 2011-Collages-Getting Colder


It was a little snowy first thing in the morning on the 23rd. Around zero degrees. This squirrel looked cold as he sat inside the bush. A gust of wind came along and blew the snow off the trees in the top left picture.


Then the sun came up and it was a pretty day, though it never got above 7 degrees.


The sun is behind the tree. One small cloud just happened by at the right time. I liked the effect it made. The squirrel's nest covered in snow. I never see too much action around it but I do think there is a squirrel taking refuge there at times. A cold Bluejay just before he flies down to get a nut. And a squirrel climbing down the fenced wall to get some nuts.


I don't think the birds have too much shelter in that bush from the cold. A lonely Junco sits there soaking up some sun. Even a few Starlings are coming around now but they don't seem to move much. They look so cold. The Cardinals do okay though it seems.


And as the sun goes down there isn't much moving out there. It's going down to 20 below this night.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Below Zero Weather-January 22, 2011-Birds


I had to get up after midnight so looked out the window and saw the moon through the clouds. Thought I'd take a few pictures. I didn't dare open the window though. It was too cold and windy so I took these through the window and that is why you see the reflection of the moon. Double pane windows do that. I tried to remove it on the other one. But it messes up the branches too much.

These are some BlueJays flying back and forth to get some food that I threw out. They have to come down next to the building because the snow is too deep to throw the seeds and nuts up on top.


A big Crow sitting on a branch. You can see him way off in the distance on that branch before I zoomed in.


Some more BlueJays and Cardinals.


Here's a little Hawk. He had just tried to catch a bird but missed. Rattled his tail feathers for a minute..Ha!


More of the Blue Jays flying in and out.

It's so cold here this weekend. Sunday night is going to be the coldest. It's going down to 16 or 20 below zero!! It was sunny Saturday but only 15 degrees. I went out anyway to get a few things. The fresh air always feels good. And I'm so thankful I can still go! The cold snap will be gone by Tuesday. Then more snow.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

January 21, 2011-Snowy day










We had another snowy day. Most of the schools were closed again. But the snow looked pretty. It's getting bitter cold this weekend though.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Video of The Squirrels Picking On Cooper's Hawk

January 18, 2011-Hawk And Squirrels-Birds


This was fun to watch! Two squirrels saw the hawk up on the branch and they came down to pick on it. Eventually the got him to fly off. That was their tree and no Hawk was going to use it..Ha! Ha! The video is good. Not sure if I will get it loaded onto Youtube. It's a big file. Mostly because I add the ones at the end where all the birds came flying back to their bush as soon as the hawk was gone.


These are the birds, all happy that the hawk left and they can come down and eat some more. It's sleeting through all this.


Just before dark. One squirrel still wanted to eat before he went home and was coming up and down from that spot. he finally went home when it got close to being real dark.

Today was a mixture of snow, sleet and rain all day. What a mess! Glad I didn't have to go out.

Monday, January 17, 2011

January 16th and 17th-2011-Very Cold Here


This male squirrel waited and waited for that female to come down from there. She finally took a leap over his head and landed on a branch behind him and ran like hell with him right on her tail. I got video of them. Couldn't see them after she jumped though.


This was how it looked at sunset time but no sun was out on this day and it was windy.


On this morning of the 17th it was so cold! Ten below at 8 am. I don't know how these squirrels and birds can stand it but they were out there. Especially lots of Bluejays flying back and forth.




It was a beautiful, sunny day though but never got above 11 degrees.
This squirrel seems to be saying, " Yes! It's damn cold out here!"


These are some deer tracks coming this way from the back hill. I never see them. They are out there after dark. I am watching though in hopes I can catch them. But right now it's too darn cold to open the windows.


More deer tracks closer to the building from last night.

It's going to warm up after midnight tonight and tomorrow it's going to snow some and we might even get sleet into Wednesday. Quite a change in the weather from the past two weeks. But it isn't going to last. By Thursday we are right back into the deep freezing weather. I'm sure glad I have a nice, warm place. Just hope the electricity never goes off. It's all electric here.