I miss the peace and quiet of the field and want to go birding, but so far I have only been able to watch the birds in the yard. And for the most part I was only able to take photographs from the porch, as it was not only too cold to go out during the extreme cold last week, but I also did not want to interfere at all with the birds that were relying on my food offering.
One day ice storm… 
The “polar bear” club
Only saw the Cooper’s Hawk briefly and even though it was sunny, I couldn’t get a clear picture of him…
There hasn’t been much going on at the river either, which has kept me indoors. No large flocks of Red-Breasted Mergansers like last year. There were some a couple days ago but I haven’t seen them since. Most of the ice in the river is from the lake…
The day or two we have had brief but significant warm-ups, the birds must have gotten spring fever because judging from the full feeders they stayed out of the yard entirely.
Tomorrow I am attending the 18th Annual Gull Frolic. I am curious to see the lake, which was quite frozen throughout the polar vortex and the aftermath, in addition to whatever gulls the frolic attracts. If past years are any indication, the worse the weather for humans, the better it will be for gulls. We shall see.
Thanks Lisa, good catch of the Cooper’s Hawk!
Thanks, MaryLee. I’m sure he’s a frequent visitor.
Poor little birds, tough time for them with the darned icy storm and low temperatures. I thought of you when I was reading the news then. Take care! 🙂
Thanks, H.J.! I’m really amazed at how well the birds in the yard came through. The weird thing was having them disappear during the warmup. But the minute it got cold again they were back. I haven’t noticed a big drop in number although I’m sure a few didn’t make it.
I hope that you get some weather which is at least tolerable for your frolic. Your yard looks very entertaining.
Thank you. I think the forecast is for sunshine tomorrow and snow Sunday. The yard…is wild by neighborhood standards but the birds seem to like it. 🙂
Watching the snow right now. I have to admit it’s kind of pretty.