It warmed to 33 today, after highs in the 20s. I walked in the afternoons, and the sun kept me from getting too cold—although when the wind blew, I could feel the cold squeezing through every hole in the layers of clothes I was wearing! It’s been interesting to see how the amount of ice on the river has increased. (It’s totally frozen over in some places upstream.) The branch that parallels our road has been frozen solid in many places, and I plan to investigate what’s going on in this culvert once the ice melts.
The deer come several times a day, and I throw apples from the hill when I’m not dressed for walking down to the meadow. Of course, I also take apples and corn two or three times a day in this weather. Sometimes I see them on my ramble, and they are waiting when I get back home.
I take water down, too. You can see the “tower” of ice I have emptied from the water pan over the last few days (that white thing). Tonight’s forecast is for a low of 24 and a “wintry mix” in the morning; I am curious to see what that will do to the “tower.” (The deer were staring when I filled the bird feeder after posting, so I took them a little more corn and got a photo of the “tower.”)
As I noted in a previous post, I take hot water and melt the ice in the birdbaths. The birds (and squirrels) appreciate this, and I see quite a few chickadees, titmice, cardinals, and mourning doves at the water, as well as a few birds. Yesterday there was a pileated woodpecker in the nearby trees, and visitors to the suet included a red-bellied woodpecker , downy woodpeckers, a yellow-bellied sapsucker, and others. I let the birds eat and drink and don’t have photos, but I was really tempted to try today when I looked out and saw the birdbath covered by bluebirds! They looked like bright blue lights as the flew around in the surrounding trees and undergrowth. And then, after the bluebirds left, came cedar waxwings! It was quite a day for birdwatching out the window!
I doubt I’ll get in a ramble tomorrow, but I’ll be back on the trail again soon.
French Broad Hollow Ramble 