The Usual Crowd

I must say, I'm enjoying this early stage of winter. The cold air is refreshing and I rather enjoy the productive exercise of clearing snow from my smallish driveway. On very cold days, the snow squeaks pleasingly underfoot. Also, I take pleasure in the feeder birds, the rabbits and reading tracks in the snow. The prints (or lack thereof) tell me that the raccoons and skunks are spending more time in their dens and that every few days a fox trots by. Sometimes I see two rabbits of about equal size, peacefully sharing a feeder together.  They especially enjoy the occasional peanut butter treat. I may have overdone it here with the bunny pics, but they are just so irresistibly cute!

Peter or Petra Cotton Tail and I focus on each other.

No sign of danger from the road.

All looks clear from the backyard.

It's safe to chow down.

Ellie Mae enjoys the live theatre from her window seat.

 
My little screech owl is now using the boxes I made for winter roosting and for storing prey items safely away from crows, etc. It's fun to think that while I have my pantry, it also keeps a larder.

The Eastern Screech Owl has resumed winter roosting in it's rustic old box.

Bluejays feel duty-bound to report it's whereabouts.

So far, only the usual crowd has shown up at my feeders. There is still plenty of natural forage about. As winter progresses, I expect surprise bird species to appear and always expect the unexpected. No doubt my yard must compete with those of bird loving neighbours who also keep well-stocked feeders.

The usual crowd of gold finches feeding near my kitchen window.

Ellie Mae reminded me of an arctic fox as she lay curled, nose to tail.