Sleet and frozen rain on Friday was followed by snow on Saturday and snow is an Event around these parts.
Now Sunday, the first rays of sun touched the meditation circle at 8:30 a.m. this morning. 28°F (-2°C).
Sun Returning To Garden
A half-hour later sunlight found the garden’s back corner and began waking up the landscape.
Early Sun On Icy Garden
Though it looks deserted it actually is filled with avian friends just waiting for me to close the upstairs window and let them get on with eating.
Morning Garden
Morning Garden
Morning Garden
Eastern Bluebird, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal and many other species are visiting the feeders this winter.
Yesterday they were desperately focused on food and were less worried about me taking their picture.
Winter Birds
Notice the Eastern towhee under the left edge of the feeder with its black head and back, rufous sides and white breast. It is normal to have one or two Eastern towhee in the garden, scratching and foraging along the ground, and occasionally checking out the feeder.
This weekend I was surprised to see a much larger group of them, maybe 8-10. At every chance they abandoned their traditional rummaging and went for the easy food.
And what is a collection of towhee called, I wondered? A “tangle” or a “teapot.”
Well you certainly had some winter weather and a lot of visitors looking for the seed bar. 🙂
We didn’t have as much as predicted but the ice is very disruptive. Schools closed. The birds are fun to watch against the white background.
You have just the right amount of snow; enough to be beautiful but not too much to cause long term problems. I hope you continue to miss the really heavy snowfalls I’ve been seeing in the news reports. Take care of yourselves. Christina
The storm was pretty severe further north. It’s very disruptive here because the roads are so icy–will take several days to melt, so no school for kids Monday.
Eastern Towhee is a great name for a bird Susie, I had to look that up as I hadn’t ever heard of it before and thought you were pulling our legs with Tangles and Teapots and see thats what groups of Towhees really are called! Your garden looks very scenic with the snow too.
Hi Julie, Wish my camera could capture the details better of those pretty Eastern towhee. Their song is “Drink some tea”!
Observing birds in the garden is one of the joys of having a garden.
What do you feed your garden birds?
The birds do enhance the garden Brian, I agree. I use a blend called a chickadee mix (Black Oil Sunflower Seed, Shelled Peanuts, Striped Sunflower Seed, Sunflower Kernels, Tree Nut Pieces) or sometimes a cardinal mix: Black Oil Sunflower Seed, Safflower Seed, Black Striped Sunflower Seed, Buckwheat, Sunflower Kernels.
You’ve definitely had some weather over there. I was watching a timelapse someone took of their front garden, somewhere in New York I think. Quite amazing to see the snow pile up. Keep warm!
New York had way more snow than we saw, just shy of a record.
It’s nice to have just a little snow, don’t you think? It looks so pretty. Glad the major snowstorm didn’t hit you too.
Just a little snow is perfect. It highlights the garden’s features and gives it a special look.
You had the right amount of snow, not to much to be disruptive. Your garden looks very seasonal and I’m sure your birds appreciate all the lovely food you put out for them.
Stay warm and cosy!
It is pretty amazing to watch the birds forage for food, they have such interesting community activity.
Glad to see you weren’t socked in by the storm. What a great assortment of birds at you feeder. I often hear the towhees when out in the woods, but none visiting my feeder. That’s very funny that a group of them are a teapot. Love to hear the story of how that came about, although definitely fits with their call.
We had loads of birds during the storm and our heated birdbath was the cool place to be. A group of towhees is called a teapot? Interesting!
I’m glad you don’t get hit much from Jonas. The birds are fun to watch. You have plenty of Eastern Bluebird too. I think most of them migrated from up north during this time of year.
Simply beautiful!
The bird feeders do get really busy during a cold snap.
I adore the look of your garden in snow…the bones are fabulous.