Christmas Eve

I usually write something fun and witty around Christmas time. There is the story about how I was convinced by Grandma Pearl that all animals talk at the stroke of midnight on Christmas Eve.

I'm not going to be a Debbie Downer so here is some of the action we've had at the bird feeders that past few days while we've endured the Artic Blast and subsequent winds. 
Thankfully, we are in the woods and in a hollow. While doing chores I could hear the winds roaring on the ridge.

Olive texted me to say that the cold and the wind chills were so intense that one of her sliding glass doors cracked. Can you imagine that?

Doing chores...Insulated pants, layers, coveralls, and an insulated flannel over the coveralls. Mask, fur hat, goggles and -- no glasses to fog up --. The wind chills were ... well -39? Let's just say that I knew bare skin would frostbite in less than a few minutes outside.

I did walk to the ridge to get the mail after chores as there were some meds for Rich that were delivered.

I walked up along the woods to watch the winds gust and blow snow across our road. My neighbor Olive, lives on that corner on the ridge and it is Wide Open. She told me it sounded like a freight train was idling outside her house. I didn't try to take pretty pictures, just a quick one of the road.

I was protected from the fierce winds by the woods but when I looked east across the ridge, I could see a haze. It was blowing snow that looked like it was a fog!

Those are not my tracks. Those are tracks of a deer.

We spent the day indoors of course and the birds were very active. I am glad that I ignored Rich telling me that feeding the birds was a waste of money. He often watches them and discusses what they are doing at the feeders and in the trees around us.

Enjoy the birds, we did!

It's Christmas Eve so I'll be making a special meal for us and we will open Charlie's present and Rich's gift.

Rich's daughter came Tuesday with her hubby and our grandson. She spent the day cooking her father's favorite meal and we had a really great day.
It was a great surprise and it made Rich smile all day and into the next when he got to eat Prime Rib and all the fixin's as left overs!

His daughter also sent him a Lego John Deere Technic Lego Tractor and spreader to work on! 

From our place to 

yours...

Twwweet Tweet Lil Birdies!

The dull overcast light of Tuesday's winter weather was actually pretty nice for bird photography. This is a subject I always avoided because I thought 

1. It was easy

2. It was boring

3. It wasn't exciting

I was wrong on all 3 accounts.

It is hard, interesting to watch, and challenging to get a decent shot.

 
I'd washed my windows on Sunday when it was warm and took the screens off in hopes of being able to 'shoot' through the glass. 

I was thrilled when this Titmouse huddled under the porch roof out of the pelting sleet. It took several shots but this is the one I liked because it looks like he/she has Attitude and he is staring right at me. He was also within 10 feet of the window.

None of the shots will be 100% clear and perfect. But it was a fun learning experience.

The cardinals came by to brighten the scenery too. All the birds like to perch on the same general area of the pines that are in front of the house. This male cardinal sat for a long time unlike the Juncos and Chickadees who were darting all about.

One of the things I wanted to do was get a Titmouse in flight. I watched a video on tips for shooting birds in flight. My reaction time is slower than the birds. Fortunately, after a ton of misses, I got a Titmouse launching. 

Ideally, according to the experts, I should have had the camera on a tripod and should have had  Continous Tracking AutoFocus set with the multi shot setting on. I used multi shot, but the CT-AF wasn't on. 

Oh well, it was exciting to see how they fly anyway. There is also the option of Pro-Capture on this camera which starts to take a shot before you press the shutter. I'm not sure how that works, but it is wicked fun.

And I started to watch carefully. I think I can almost predict a take off. But I miss most of the time.

The Titmouse quickly flew out of focus. 

I watched the birds interact. This Junco sat quietly on the branch for a long time before he/she decided that the Chickadee was too close.

Fight Club!

The Chickadee moved higher into the tree.

To celebrate the 2-22-22 event, I kept watching and decided to give up. I started to put the camera away when this happened!

Twos!

So you ask. How many shots did I take just to get a few? Hmmm. Do you want to guess or should I tell you?

For the Birds again

The sun was so warm yesterday afternoon, that I could sit on the porch and watch the birds at the feeder. They flit between the feeder and the pine tree and Hickory. 

What I didn't realize, is that I'd learn about bird habits and how they interacted. Generally I glance out the window and admire the birds I do know. It is fun to watch them come in, eat and leave.

So I watched. This guy is a bully as well as the Flicker.

He/she chases all the other birds away. Bully!

The Juncos seem to be more sociable. They even let other birds sit on branches near them. 

There are certain times that everyone seems to want to feed at the same time.

The cardinals are morning and late afternoon feeders. I generally see the lady cardinals before the sun shines into our hollow in the morning.

The male cardinals make their appearance and always stand out. He didn't really go to the feeder but seemed content to watch all of the other birds.

The Nuthatch would hit the feeder and immediately go to the pine tree where it would run up and down the bark.

The Tufted Titmouse is fun to watch also. He/she takes the seeds from the feeder to the tree and it appears that she tries to break it open on a branch?

She/he was really quite entertaining. My step daughter told me that she puts out peanuts for her Titmice. 

I never thought much of photographing them either and did NOT realize exactly how hard they can be to photo! There is no way I got decent photos easily. The ones here are a few I picked out of many, many others. Thank goodness for the ability to delete the crappy ones!

I am so proud of myself for being able to sit for one whole hour and just watch.

I'm the kind of person whose feet need to keep on moving unless I am asleep.

Well, I got the driveway and turn around areas shoveled out with the skid steer and I did not run into anything.

I dislike that machine and like it also.

If I ever had my choice, I'd get a little Mule or UTV type thingy to attach a plow to and push it around.