Walking on Water

This young eagle seemed quite perplexed by the ice on the lake this morning.  With the rising temps, it should not be long before the thin ice disappears.

Injured Deer

Late yesterday afternoon when I put the food out I gave the deer and extra portion.  With snow on the ground and the exceptional cold, I figured they needed a little extra.  They came fairly early when it was still light out.  I stood and watched one that was trying to maneuver on three legs.  The doe were shunning the injured deer which of course is a natural act since an injured animal is more susceptible to becoming prey.






From the window I thought that is was a doe since it was with the herd but after looking closely at the trailcam shots, realized it was a buck that had already shed its antlers.












I sent a couple of photos to my friend who is a large animal vet and asked her for her  best guess.  It did not sound good which is what I suspected.  As hunting season is now over, I guess my only legal option is to call the wildlife folks and see if they will send an officer out.  I really think it would be terribly cruel to let the animal continue to suffer and die a slow horrible death.









What a difference no antlers make.  When he had his antlers and would come to the feeding site, all the doe would scatter.  Now with no antlers and an injury to boot, he has been relegated to the back behind the doe.

I will watch this afternoon and check the trailcam tomorrow before making my decision .

Snow Day Portraits

I took advantage of the snow day to get some bird shots.  Since we don't get that many snow days and by the weekend it will be gone, you get what you can.  There were tons of birds today all trying to get their share of the food.  It is quite amusing to watch the hierarchy of  who feeds first.  When a Robin showed up, it thought it was the big bird and spent most if its time trying to chase the other birds.  I got quite pissed with it as it seemed to really have it in for the Bluebirds.






At first one single Blue Jay showed up.  It ate a bit and left and before long was back with two friends.  They then became the "big birds" on the block.











The Yellow-rumped Warblers only chased each other and generally same with the Cardinals except when the Towhees showed up.  Lots of Cardinals with the males looking exceptionally red against the white of the snow.

The biggest surprise was having a Grackle show up.  I usually never see one until the end of February at the earliest and usually arriving in the first part of March.  Maybe signs of an early spring?  Who needs a groundhog when you have a Grackle!  And yes, he was "big bird" on the block when he showed up.

Snow?

For there to have been so much talk about snow, if it is coming at all it is taking its time.  The cold is absolutely miserable so it might as well snow.  At least you could enjoy some pretty scenery.

The birds have been steadily visiting the suet feeders and the birdseed feeders all day.  They really like this last batch of suet where I added some apple sauce to the mix.








Bird list today:  Pine Warblers,  Downy WP's, Red-bellied WP's, Houses Finches, Cardinals, Eastern Towhee,  Eastern Bluebirds, Yellow-rumped Warblers , Dark-eyed Juncos,  White-throated Sparrows, Doves,Tufted Titmice, Carolina Wrens, Carolina Chickadee, Winter Wrenn, White-breasted Nuthatch.

"Polar Wave"

The waves of extremely cold air masses moving in seem endless.  I am so ready for spring.  Tomorrow is suppose to be fairly nice before the next cold air mass moves in on Tuesday.  Hopefully tomorrow I can get out and enjoy the weather.  The only benefit of the cold is it has pretty much forced me to get back to the house renovation projects.  I took a break in December and most of January but have now started back.  I am up to the kitchen which is turning out to be a major project.
 

Pine Warbler

After a couple of days of spring like weather, when the cold front came through late yesterday afternoon, old man winter definitely let us know he was not done yet.  I don't think it the temperature rose above freezing today.  Fortunately the "big snow" was a bust.










Birds have been steadily visiting the suet feeder today.  I have noticed that for whatever reason, the arrival of the Pine Warbler brings on aggressive behavior from the other birds.  The aggressive behavior seems to only apply to the male and not the female PW so I can only assume it has something to do with the bright color.








The male house finches are beginning to get a little deeper in color.  I have also noticed that quite a few of the Yellow-rumped Warblers are begging to change a bit to their breeding colors.

Eagle Count

I went with a friend today who had signed us up to participate in an eagle count this morning.  We were to be at a specified post from 0700 to 0830.  From our position, we only saw two.  Later, for grins and giggles, went to another area where lots of eagles had been spotted.









What can I saw but an amazing sight.  We counted 23 eagles within about a 150 foot area along a river.  Tried as we could though, we could not get to a favorable position where we were not shooting in to the sun.  It was still quite an enjoyable day to watch and listen to them.  They were a feisty group.


Most of the eagles at this second location were young.  Based on their color, there were some probably as young as one year and most under 5 years.  Even those with white head feathers still had either a small patch of dark feathers somewhere on their head or tail feathers still tinged dark.

Last year when they came to this area they stayed around three weeks then departed.  We are going to attempt to go back tomorrow during the afternoon when the sun should be in a better position.  Out of more shots today than I care to say, I think maybe only three that I think are even presentable.