Day 54 - 23rd February 2019 - Blue Jay, Mourning Dove and Hooded Mergansers

Temperature is near -15 this morning, it's a cold one, but the stars are all out and promises to be a nice day. The calm before the storm tomorrow. We've had several storm days last week, winter has come when we are now ready to think about spring. The days are getting longer and in a few weeks, time will "Spring Ahead ". It's been a busy week. We have the living room upside down doing a few renos - new hardwood floor, fresh coat of paint. I leave most of this to Larry except when he enlists my help to use power tools! This means that furniture is everywhere but where it should be and I can no longer find anything. Oh well it will soon be back to rights and look great. A few more rooms can use some fresh paint this winter so we will continue along with these projects for another month. By then spare time will be spent in the wood pile. Managed to get to both Knitting and Yarn sessions this week - weather co-operated on those days but no Thelma & Louise this week. The yard is filled with birds every day, but nothing new to report. Last Sunday we took a drive up the road to check the river and lakes - Ring-Neck Ducks at Lake Philip and have been in the river below Lake Deception all week as well as 2 male Hooded Mergansers above Lake Philip in the river. No sign of the Common Mergansers at East McKay Lake that day.

Blue Jay cracking sunflower seeds

Mourning Dove

A glimpse of Hooded Mergansers through the bushes.





Enjoy your day!

Day 48 - 17th February 2019 - Evening Grosbeaks

A nice morning out there  - stars are twinkling, temperature is -4/-5, little breezy and the lake is moaning and groaning. So it's been a rough week  - I came down with the plague (the only nice word I can use for the affliction) and am finally feeling like myself this morning. I started to actually feel better yesterday afternoon and that food would once again be my friend. Seems it's been a hard winter, but will consider myself lucky as there are others much worse off. Today it's time to buzz around and get some things done in this house, Larry's been good at tending to the sick but has had other projects on the go and the house work has fallen by the wayside. So I need to spend a few hours playing catch up. When I've not been knitting, watching tv or generally lazing around the last few days, I've been enjoying the birds at the feeders. No one unusual but it's nice to see the Goldfinches, Nuthatches, Chickadees, Sparrows, Grosbeaks, Woodpeckers Blue Jays and even the Mourning Doves.

He really is a stunning fellow - Evening Grosbeak. Normally I depend on the Blue Jays to add some brightness to winter but this year I've had these guys every day.

Just a few of the 26 that were at the feeders a few days ago - I've had as many as 42.
Enjoy your day!

Day 43 - 12th February 2019 - Evening Grosbeaks, Mourning Dove and Blue Jay

A cold morning (-12/-13) but on an up note the wind has died out, stars are all shining in the sky. Looks like a messy system on it's way tonight - snow, freezing rain/ice pellets and then tomorrow it will  change over to rain. So might want to buzz around today, getting a few things ready for a power outage....just in case. Things are getting back to normal with me, I'm just really careful moving my neck and how long I stay in one position. It doesn't quite feel as strong as it used to. But all is good and I can do pretty well most things again. Haven't tackled exercise class yet but that's coming soon. The feeders have been busy - Evening Grosbeaks are daily visitors now, sometimes only a few but then like yesterday 25 +. Not seeing as many Goldfinches, but the feeder they like needs to be refilled and put back out. The bird world is fussy!

Evening Grosbeak at the Christmas tree

 A few more of them - too many fat birds have snapped the perch off.

Mourning Dove and Blue Jay





Enjoy your day

Day 38 - 7th February 2019 - Evening Grosbeak, Blue Jays and White Throated Sparrow

A little cool, temperature is below 0,  a dusting of snow in the last hour or so. I had a very uneventful week, I've been  suffering with this pulled muscle in my neck. The Voltaren seems to have been helping tremendously and I've had Larry massaging my shoulder and neck so things are starting to come around. Today is the fist day in  a week that I've been able to type for any lenght of time. Actually yesterday I managed to get myself mobile and go to "Knit & Yarn" - I was going shack wacky and needed some social interaction. I packed a pillow and off we went. Besides I really didn't want to miss Edsel Roache showing us how to make lobster bait bags. I think it was just what I needed - laughter is after all the best medicine. I did do a little knitting but was very careful to keep my head up and not let my neck drop down.  This morning I'm not quite as slow moving - only a couple of hours to feel pretty good. Needless to say I can't quite handle Big B.and haven't been roaming so will have to find a few pics from the archives.

Evening Grosbeak

 Blue Jays, thieving the suet

White Throated Sparrow




Enjoy your day!

Day 33 - 2nd February 2019 - Blue Jays and an Evening Grosbeak

Cold (-13) and clear this morning, stars are out, lake is groaning and moaning. It's Groundhog Day - in a few short hours the little rodent will come out and decide if we have 6 weeks more of winter or not. On the south shore of Nova Scotia, we do things a little different- we have Lucy the Lobster who will come out and predict the end of winter. So if you are out and around Cape Sable Island causeway - check out Lucy this morning! I'm sitting with an ice pack on my neck this morning, not sure if Ive got a pulled muscle or a virus, but I've got a pain that goes down my shoulder blade and up into my head.  After a little self diagnoses on google, I'm opting for a pulled muscle.  My social life went down the tubes yesterday - didn't go knitting or play marbles. Actually I went back to bed for a couple of hours in the morning and I'll probably do the same this morning since I've been up since 3:30am.  Looks like a lazy day of ice and heat for me and hopefully in a day or two I'll be back to normal.

Blue Jays stealing the suet from the Woodpeckers!

Evening Grosbeak waiting for a feeder






Enjoy your day!

Day 32 - 1st February 2019 - Evening Grosbeaks, White Throated Sparrow and Song Sparrow

Good Morning February ! Cold, - 10,  snowing, maybe winter  has arrived? At least the wind has died out, but I'm sure that won't last. I always find February to be the worse month - might be short (only by a couple of days) but can pack a punch.  Yesterday there were snow flurries (at times looked like a blizzard) and blowing snow all day or at least here in the country. By the time we went to town around noon it was clear there, what a difference a few miles to the north makes. The tooth is looked after and all went well.  Feeders are busy every day now, lots of activity when it's cold and/or snowing. It's Friday so that makes it Knit & Yarn day - hoping the roads will be fit to travel on and Marble night. Yes Fridays really are the highlight of my social life.

Evening Grosbeaks hanging out on the fence

 The Chubby White Throated Sparrow was resting in the Christmas Tree waiting for the ...

Song Sparrow to vacate the feeder.







Enjoy your day!

Day 31- 31st January 2019 - Evening Grosbeak, Blue Jay and Starling

Here we are at the last day of the first month of they year - that flew by! It's cold, -5/-6, wind is blowing and it's snowing.  Looks like we'll have cold and flurries for some of the day. I'm off to the dentist later, this is the day to get rid of the bothersome tooth. Maybe I''ll buzz around and do a few things this morning because I'm sure later I won't feel like doing a lot. I hate the feel of the freezing coming out.  Had a good day at knitting, always fun, lots of laughs and I love to see everyone finish projects and start another. Yarn is so different now than it was almost 40 years ago when I was doing a lot of  knitting. Some of it is makes up beautiful patterns and it's cool to watch it knit up. I'm knitting hats and headbands with faithful Briggs and Little wool, hopefully will have a good stock of them done to sell in our gift shop when I go back to work for the season.  Feeders were busy again yesterday morning. Had a few stray Starlings stop in.

Blue Jay

 One of the Evening Grosbeaks, waiting his turn

Starling - I rarely have them in the winter months, but every once in a while a few will stop in.




Enjoy your day!