Wednesday, November 26, 2008

What gets me through the Winter


Being the 'jack-of-all-trades' that I am, one of my many interests is bird watching. I have two 'bird buffets' in my yard, both with multiple feeders hanging from them and homemade squirrel baffles. I keep my birdbath thawed through the winter with a water defroster made especially for birdbaths. I even have a "Mother Nature's Monitor" (seen here), so I can listen in to all the sounds outside, when it's cold.
What really does help me feel better about the blah's of winter is this little bird... the Dark Eyed Junco (pictured is the male). They spend the summer up north in the Yukon and northern Canada, but make their way to 'warmer' climes in the fall. They'll be here for several months, then one day in March or April, they'll be gone. They are members of the sparrow family and are ground feeders, preferring to forage for seeds, etc. They are very unaggressive and usually will flock together in groups of 6 to ten or so. Females look like males, except they are a little more gray, rather than charcoal like the male.
I guess I think these birds are cute. They hop around on the ground, making dark spots on the snow with their bodies. They're just nice to see and watch. So, that sort of helps me through the winter, it's something I can look forward to because of the cold weather, not in spite of it. If it didn't get cold, they wouldn't be here, so I appreciate the cold.... just a little bit. And they make me feel happy.
Hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday and has a great time with family and friends!

3 comments:

Keetha Broyles said...

I love Juncos too.

Keetha Broyles said...

Go check out the heading I put on my "followers" widget which I just added to my blog today.

Keetha Broyles said...

Dan, Dan, Dan - - - I'm WAITING over here to see what you think of my blog followers title - - - - I did it JUST for you and your avatar!!