Silver Linings

The winter weather that crippled much of the country last week skated through here with barely a whisper, leaving behind less than 1/2 inch of precipitation, in the form of rain and freezing rain, followed by sleet and snow. 

Still, it's all we've had this year.

 It was enough to create some silver magic in the hollow..

...and bring our favorite visitors clustering around for a handout.  

There was something for everyone.

This cardinal thought he was quite dapper, 

but he didn't know he had a sunflower seed hull on his beak.

How embarrassing!

There were even cat brier berries for the bluebird.  Yum!

If any of you want to truck some of your excess snow down to the Ozarks,

there's a photographer here who would love to take it off your hands.





Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday

The first photo is wearing Kim Klassen's wonderful texture, 1402

Winter Hues

The skies are gray, the winds biting,

  and the leafless landscape, so far, is devoid of snow...

 but there are always the bluebirds...

  and cardinals...

and tufted titmice.

What more could we want?





Note about the photos:
The three titmice on the branch are actually one bird in motion.
My camera caught the bird in the right and left positions in the first burst.
He may have heard me say "Take Two".
In any case, the little bird was obliging enough to come back to the same branch
for another takeoff, so I combined the three in photoshop.

As always, you can click on any image to enlarge it.



Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday

Birds and Berries

The air turned sharply colder yesterday, 

and birds came to the feeder in a steady stream.

A winterberry branch, propped above the feeder, provided a good perch.

Cardinals eat the berries, stripping away the shiny skin faster than you can blink. 

Titmice, and the other small birds, haven't tried the berries yet, to my knowledge...

they're more interested in the sunflower seeds below.

Blue jays put in an appearance,

 and, as is customary, there was a short squabble...

but this time the victor was worried.

"Did I make her mad?"

Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday

and Camera Critters

This Day