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Post by Calamity Creek Gal on Feb 3, 2015 22:43:14 GMT -5
Glad you and birds are surviving the storms! I love the titmouse picture, hazel is right- he looks a bit perplexed.
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Post by lyn on Feb 7, 2015 8:21:47 GMT -5
Downylover, great to see your birds hanging tough in the icy, snowy landscape. Charming titmouse photo.
We have 103cm/40inches of snow on the ground following the three storms this past week. We have been spared freezing rain, thus far, which is always more of a concern than than the fluffy snow !
The plowed snowbank is about 2.4m/8feet high, creating a sheltered area between the house and the street. I keep moving feeders closer to the house so that I can fill them from the front porch without wading through the drifts. Photos to follow later.
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Post by lyn on Feb 7, 2015 9:02:20 GMT -5
Attachment DeletedView from the front window.....common redpolls. I have been able to identify two hoary redpolls that travel with this flock of about 80 that visits throughout the day. There are about two dozen Bohemian waxwings in a crabapple tree down the street, but the distance is beyond the capability of my camera.
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Post by hazelrunmama on Feb 7, 2015 15:15:05 GMT -5
What a great set-up, Lyn! Right outside your window! I'm envious of your snow--we only have about 8" so really not enough to get out the snowshoes. I hope the waxwings pay you a visit, too! I wonder if they'd come for grapes?
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Post by Calamity Creek Gal on Feb 7, 2015 18:56:26 GMT -5
Nice Lyn, that's peanuts on the corner post, right! Great gobs of SNOW! My sister and I talk every Monday (she is in central MN) and she has told friends her sister in TX had more snow in January than she did!!! But the last few days are in the low 70s and bright sunshine. Saw the first wildflowers blooming yesterday and Prairie Verbena today!
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Post by luv2bird on Feb 7, 2015 21:16:13 GMT -5
View from the front window.....common redpolls. I have been able to identify two hoary redpolls that travel with this flock of about 80 that visits throughout the day. There are about two dozen Bohemian waxwings in a crabapple tree down the street, but the distance is beyond the capability of my camera.
Wow! Lyn, that is a lot of snow and congrats on the redpolls especially the hoarys.
l2b
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Post by luv2bird on Feb 9, 2015 10:28:44 GMT -5
Notice he has thicker legs and a rounded tail, (previous pic.)
I believe he is a Coopers Hawk.
l2b
Sorry, As usual- what a mess- under the wrong subject heading. Will try to correct this, and post it in the correct subject line.
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Post by lyn on Feb 9, 2015 13:56:44 GMT -5
Yes Lue, those are peanuts on the board. I added a few blueberries today but there have been no customers. Today the fruit eaters (Bohemian Waxwing and American Robin) are busy devouring the crab apples and some of the highbush cranberries (viburnum ). It is very cold and there has been a steady flow of birds in the yard. (-8F/-23C at 8am). It has "warmed up" to 3F/-16C this afternoon. Good for a count day ! Pairs of Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers are my favorites, also the busy redpolls, a few pine Siskins, purple finches and a goldfinch. There is just one mourning dove, I think the neighbourhood sharpie is picking them off. The yard was full of dove feathers about two weeks ago. The circle of life.
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Post by Calamity Creek Gal on Feb 9, 2015 14:33:31 GMT -5
Sounds like a great count day Lyn. I agree - it is part of the circle of life. I'd like to see them flitting around. I wonder if there were Redpolls in northern Wisconsin? I didn't really do much bird "IDing" then. According to a range map they probably were around.
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Post by hazelrunmama on Feb 9, 2015 18:13:11 GMT -5
Redpolls are irruptive here, Lue, so it depends on the year. Normally we'll see redpolls once every 3 or 4 years, but we've had them here 3 out of the past 4 years, so we're above average...
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Post by Calamity Creek Gal on Feb 11, 2015 21:48:24 GMT -5
Thanks HRM, I don't remember birds like Redpolls or House Finches. I remember lots of Juncos, some Nuthatches and bunches of Evening Grosbeaks. I know there were birds at the platform feeder - maybe ?Siskins?
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Post by hazelrunmama on Feb 12, 2015 19:00:53 GMT -5
Maybe siskins--or goldfinches? The House finch didn't make it here from the east coast until some time in the 80s or 90s, so you might have gone south by then?
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Post by Calamity Creek Gal on Feb 12, 2015 21:18:43 GMT -5
Yes, probably Goldfinches. We left Ashland in 1996 and wandered for a while in our motorhome. We got here in February of 1997. Can't believe we've been here 18 years!
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Post by Calamity Creek Gal on Feb 12, 2015 21:24:11 GMT -5
Ugh! Another ice and sleet storm. Probably an inch of ice. Power was out from 3PM to 6:30PM. At least it wasn't another 100+ hours. WHEW! We decided a couple weeks ago and have bitten the 'bullet' and are getting a whole house generator. Will, most likely, be installed next week.
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Post by naturelover on Feb 13, 2015 9:36:39 GMT -5
Wow, that's a huge investment Lue. But..... beats the alternative of repeatedly losing what's in the fridge & freezer as well as freezing to death.
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