Nice Winter Day!

Just in from a long walk around the neighborhood. It is cold today but not too, high of twenty degrees Fahrenheit. A breeze out of the North at about fifteen miles per hour and brilliant sunshine blocked by only a few wispy clouds. It has been a while since we have had fresh snow and the stories in the snow are really showing up! Under every apple tree is a maze of deer tracks where they have been pawing through the snow to get the frozen left over fruit from last fall. I expected that there would be wild turkey tracks mixed in but did not see any at all. The turkeys must be laying low somewhere!

Just down the road I noticed the rectangular holes left by our neighborhood Pileated woodpecker. These are very distinctive when you see them looking very much like they have been made by a carpenter with a chisel. Our birdfeeder is being visited by tufted titmice for the first time in years. None of the siskins that we had in flocks last winter though. Bird migrations are always variable part of what makes watching so interesting.

The sun is gradually working its way northward and the days are a little longer. It will not be long until the chickadees start to sing marking the end of winter for me. Even if there is lots of snow and cold to go.