Ice and snow....hopefully the last!

I hope these will be my last ice and snow photos! It is suppose to get up to 40 today!

I was trying to catch the sun shining on the ice, but am not too sure how to do that. Afternoon sun on the lilacs
Icy sticks pointing up to the sun

Drips

I could really see the sun glinting on the trees outside through the skylight, but that defeated me in trying to figure out how to capture it :-) At least it doesn't show the cobwebs in the skylight.

I took very few bird photos. Partly because there were no interesting birds and partly because I was watching the 5 hour and 14 minute tennis match between Nadal and Verdasco...what a match! An endurance match as much as a great tennis match!

Left-overs from the day before......After the bath

I'll say one thing for these Cowbirds...they can eat from this feeder. My regular birds hate this feeder and the seeds don't dispense from it very well.

One of the prettiest birds of the day.

"Hey.....can you knit me some heavy wool socks? Size extra small?"

Hanging out together

"I want to be alone......besides my feet won't move"

The Red-Bellied just keeps on eating.

Wings up for ballance for this little sparrow on the ice.

It took me a bit to figure out what this squirrel was doing draped over that branch. I finally realized he had a chunk of the old suet cake that I had taken out of the big feeder to replace with a new one. I broke the pieces and threw them on the ground and apparently he snagged one and ran up this tree with it. He looked so funny the way he was draped on the limb to have both paws free to hold it! Kept him happy for quite some time :-)

If I'm lucky today my photos will be full of melting snow and ice......and a huge mess under the trees where I have been tossing seed.

SkyWatch Friday.....

My skies this week are shining on snow and ice... A brief moment of sun as it rises.
Very little showing theough the icy trees

Up through the branches.....light.
For more skies....hopefully filled with sunshine and no snow, check out the other Skywatch sites by clicking on the icon on my sidebar.
Thanks to all who host the Skywatch site!
(My nature post follows this one)

Happy Faces :-)

Icicles on the dome
Does this look like a happy bird?......

......how about this one???

"I think my butt is frozen to this branch".

The "polar bear club" having an outing in the birdbath......brrrrrrrrrr!

I could barely see it.... A hawk hiding in the frozen branches.....but they saw him and scattered.

White-breasted Nuthatches seem to take everything in their stride.

"Where's the microwave???.....I need to thaw this out!"

I had squirrels all over trying to get some food. Actually, I realized that their presence on the deck was keeping the cowbirds and starlings away from the back of the house and a few birds were getting seeds along with them.

Yellow gold and white gold

The wrens were around most of the day on the deck.

It manages to peck some suet out even with all the ice. I need peanut butter for those holes in the post!

"Peanut butter sounds good.....where is it???"

Two titmice enjoying a squirrel free feeder for a while.

Another "happy face"

A surprise visitor....the Brown Thrasher.....I usually only see them in the spring. I think he came too early.

Cardinal on ice.

I have lots of photos of cowbirds and starlings, but will skip those. They hung around all day. I saw one try to take that tray feeder away from the Red-Bellied woodpecker....the woodpecker won round #2 also :-)
Snapped photos in between watching Federer beat Rodick in the Australian Open. Ought to be a great final coming up soon!

Ice....Birds....Icy Birds....

I waded through the snow early yesterday to take some photos. This is the same creek area I posted a couple days ago, when we didn't have snow. The creek in the snow
Steeple in the distance across the snowy field

This mulberry tree was so weighted down by ice and another leaning tree, that it hangs over the road making the cars have to swerve around it into the neighbor's yard. Last night one of the neighbors who works for a construction company had a snowplow clearing our road (yeah!) and they stopped to ask if they could cut off the tree that was hanging down. We told them to cut all they wanted. Mulberrys grow like weeds and the thing was too big anyway for being that close to the road.

Branches of the maple in the side yard were touching the ground and the tips frozen in the snow.

My poor lilac and spirea bushes! Usually you can't see the neighbor's house right there.

Look at the thick coat of ice on each branch and then several inches of snow on top of that.

Busy birds all day. These two look like they are gossiping.....

....probably about this strange group!

How does it get off the ground with that much ice on its tail?????

The sparrow seemed happy enough.

Mrs. Downy looks a bit frazzled.

Mr. Downy looks a bit better. They had to fight the bully birds for suet all day.

This started out as a photo of a cardinal on the feeder when I snapped the shutter.....but the Red-Bellied came along and changed the photo! Too bad it isn't clearer, but with accidents like this, you get what you get!

You can see who won.

The birds had problems perching on all that ice, but these Cowbirds didn't seem to mind too much.

Not sure how the one Starling got in this bunch, but I wish they would all go away and let my little birds eat!

E-mail funny....winter

I got this email today and it seemed so appropriate, even though many of you have a lot better right to the words for your state! Feel free to substitute your state name and pass it on!

It's winter in INDIANA
And the gentle breezes blow

Seventy miles an hour

At twenty-five below.

Oh, how I love INDIANA

When the snow's up to your butt

You take a breath of winter

And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful

So I guess I'll hang around

I could never leave INDIANA

'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!

(author unknown)