Of Blizzards and Birds

Indiana had our first major snow storm of the winter season today. We were under a blizzard warning but most of the major snow and wind was south of me! We only had about four or five inches of snow and thankfully no one in my family had to venture out!

A few weeks ago I wrote about a new winter bird feeding station for a Lowe's Creative Ideas project. Since we had snow in the forecast, I went outside yesterday and replaced some of the food on the tree. It had been warm and rainy and some of the homemade suet had started molding and smelled sour.  I added more suet dipped pine cones and a few lights and ornaments to the tree. I also washed the tiny clay pots and put plain peanut butter in them.

Usually when it snows the birds gather at my feeders in large numbers and I wanted the tree to be ready for them!

It is beautiful flocked with snow!

  I took the pictures through my sliding glass doors that looked like this most of the day! There was also blowing snow that made getting good pictures even more difficult!

 Even though the pictures are not the best quality, I wanted to show the birds that landed on the tree today. It was such a joy to watch them so close to the house!

 The little chickadees are my favorites and they were in and out of the tree all day!

 I was thrilled when they started eating the peanut butter from the clay pots! I was glad that I took the time to wash and refill them on Christmas day!

 The dark-eyed juncos also frequented the tree once they figured out how to maneuver the branches. They are usually ground feeders. 

 I had several mesh bags saved in the pantry and hung a few of them on the tree with home made suet bars in them.

 The chickadees came to the same spot all day and conveniently feasted on suet and peanut butter!

 Here is a female dark-eyed junco eating seeds from the suet dipped pine cone.

 The chickadees also ate seeds from the pine cones.

 Juncos are very difficult to photograph, especially on cloudy days because their eyes are so hard to capture. I don't like bird pictures if I can't clearly see their eyes so these were heavily photoshopped to lighten them enough to see the eyes.

 Same with the little chickadees and their black caps and dark eyes.

 I put a few more lights on the tree yesterday and finally plugged them in. I couldn't wait to see the lights twinkling in the snow and the sweet little birds on the light covered tree.

 I found out this morning that my sweet and cautious husband had unplugged the lights and brought the extension cord inside. He thought it might be hazardous to have lights on in the snow if the high winds blew the tree over. Better safe than sorry, but I was disappointed that I didn't have the lights on in these pictures of the precious chickadee.

The woodpecker landed on the back side of the tree and was also difficult to capture. I'm hoping once he is comfortable landing on the tree that he will venture to the front side!

The robins were in the yard in large numbers devouring the berries from the Bradford and Cleveland pear trees.

A few months ago I read that cardinals eat pumpkin seeds. I love cardinals, especially in the winter and since seed is so expensive I try to save and be frugal however I can! So, rather than throw the pumpkins in the composter, I busted them open and left them on the ground. It isn't very attractive and several times I have looked out the window and regretted that decision. I no longer do! This is a terrible picture, but it is proof that they will eat the seeds! Hopefully more people will save their fall pumpkins for the cardinals during these snowy winter months when their food supply is more scarce! I'm hoping to catch them eating it again when the weather conditions are more favorable.

 I hope everyone is safe today after the severe weather down south yesterday and the winter storms up north today! It has definitely been an eventful two days of crazy weather!

And I wanted to wish you all a belated...

I hope that you were all blessed to be with those you love!

Also a huge thank you to Shirley from Shirls Garden Watch blog for mentioning Robin's Nesting Place on her blog! Shirl and I both have a fondness and fascination for the birds!