MikeandRong

It's been over 40 days now with no food being put out, and now with the frozen ground and snow cover the Skunks are well into their hibernation period. The family of Great Horned Owls are still around and hooting every night at dusk, and the mated pair of Red-Tailed Hawks are still in their nest 2 doors down. With all the leaves having fallen, it's easy to see all of them perching and flying around now. Usually this Male Red-Tailed Hawk follows his Female mate everywhere she goes, just like the Male Cardinal follows his Female mate. But today he was on the hunt and I saw him staring at the bush line at the back of the yard. While I was not able to see if he caught a mouse or shrew, I managed to get a good couple of photos of him in action. He's not real big, about a 3 foot wing span, while his mate is very big with a span of a solid 4 feet + (the females are always larger).

I've been to the real Harbin Ice Show and it's really cold, minus 25 F. Had to keep the camera batteries next to my chest as they would only work for about 5 minutes before going bad. It is quite the sight to see, espically at night with all the colored lights lighting up the different structures. Walking up the different ice stairs of some of the buildings was challenging too. The one place that was not as crowded as any other attraction I went to in China.

After on and off again rain for the past 10 days it has stayed just around freezing overnight, with ice forming but then melting in the daytime. Huge flocks of Sandhill Cranes were migrating overhead today and that is a sure sign of the cold weather on the way. It snowed a bit again yesterday, yet there are still some green leaves on the trees and bushes. These Sandhills were flying up so high that if you looked at the direction of the calling they were doing, they would already be past being overhead. These flocks of Sandhills were in groups of 50-100+ birds at a time, and this lasted for hours upon hours all day long today as there was a strong North wind that they were using to fly South for the winter. Last year they arrived on December 8th, and the year before was November 13th, so I guess this is going to be and average year as far as cold weather goes.

Those are some great freeze action shots that they showed. That looks like quite the camera and very capable too. Mine has more features on it than I am capable of understanding or even using thus far. I think somewhere down the road I'll enroll in a photography class down at the community college. It's one thing to read the directions that came with the camera or watch a YouTube video about some technique and quite another to take a real teaching class with hands on experience together with a teacher and other students too. I feel that would open me up to much more experienced people it's a vast array of knowledge and tips.

What a sight, will it be free or a toll bridge? Their engineering is amazing.

Never ceases to amaze me how easily our government (local through federal) will turn a blind eye to a situation all the while supplementing, empowering, and handing out that which they did not earn (our tax dollars) to begin with, they (government) simply withhold it (our tax dollars) before it even reaches our hands. But Lord have Mercey if someone (anyone) should individually directly impact them (a decision making official) by cutting in line at a store checkout, or perhaps dart in and take a parking spot when they were waiting with a turn signal on. They would instantly call out that you weren't being fair and should have waited your turn. How about somebody trying to bend the rules at election time, I can hear the crying from here!!! It is always easier to spend someone's else money (ours) or impact another (your stepdaughter) with your actions when nobody has the guts (the voters) to hold them (the elected officials) accountable for the feel good decisions that they (government) enact. I feel for you TB and you can take it to the bank that I always make my vote count.

The black thistle seed does not fall out on the ground when the Goldfinches feed on it, so I let that stay up until it gets too wet from the weather, as only Sparrows seem to eat at it then. Having six Goldfinches on this little feeder at the same time was neat to see as only during the cold weather months do they seem to group up and feed together without fighting. After two days of raking up seeds and the Sparrow and Juncos eating the smaller remains this yearling Red-winged Blackbird showed up to scavenge any leftovers. I have not had any more nighttime visitors but I'll give it a couple more weeks just to be sure. The two Blue Jay brothers and this yearling Red-bellied Woodpecker easily spot us now when we're out in the backyard and fly down and wait for us to toss a peanut their way. I don't mind doing that kind of feeding as they carry it away to eat and they don't leave a mess behind for the night crew.

It was only a matter of time that my arch enemy made her appearance to eat up the spilled seed. She looks like a big pregnant female as she was about 12 pounds and not afraid of me at all. She's trying to pack on as much weight as possible before taking her winter nap and having her babies. This will force me to pull the food once again until the colder weather forces her underground till spring thaw. My wife tells me that there are no Skunks in China and she had no idea how bad they could smell when they spray or get hit by a car.

Halloween was a clear and very bright warm day, temperature swings at this time of year can vary 40 degrees from one day to the next. These Goldfinches have lost all their summer yellow color now and are a much more pale tan. In a couple more months they will change from tan to almost white, then as spring approaches they will once again change to their bright yellow breeding colors. With most of the leaves having dropped from the Locast trees the sun really shines strong and seems to either dull out the birds colors or brighten them up. This House Sparrow that was landing appeared pale yellow on his belly and made me look twice to see what he really was, while the Male Cardinal appeared an almost drab red instead of his usual bright red colors that makes him so easy to see. Later on in the early afternoon with the sun at a little lower angle, everyone was back to their normal appearing colors.

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As I was refilling the feeders for next morning all my regulars were eagerly watching and ready to grab a quick bite to eat before dark. They are all so used to me I can stand 5 feet from them just watching them go about their business. This brother and sister Downy Woodpecker have stayed together since they first started flying this summer. I still don't know where their nest was, but they are in the yard all day long eating and playing around. This Male Housefinch is still around and really losing all of his red colors until next spring. He will leave soon for a more warmer Southern climate. The Black-capped Chickadees are around all year long and looking very plump and ready for winter. I always like hearing them call as it reminds me of the up north woods in wintertime.

Lots of Dark-eyed Juncos have arrived from up North and that means cold weather is coming very soon. They are a real good indicator of what's happening just a few hundred miles North of here. The males are just coal black on top and Snow White on the bottom, while the females are all different hues of a lighter purple, black, and brown.

After the Bluebirds left it was really quiet, no Hawks were around that I saw or heard and just this little Female Downy Woodpecker walking around the base of the tree. At first I thought she may be injured because I don't see them so low to the grass. But she was ok after watching her a couple of minutes as she was playing with a small round seed and just picking it up and placing it in a crack in the bark, just to roll out and she would pick it up again and try in a new spot.

Later just after lunchtime I got a sudden big surprise and luckily these guys were real tame and gave me time to walk back inside and grab the camera and were just curiously watching me as they posed. I hope this brings some happiness to a good friend of mine who I am sure will take a look here. These are Eastern Bluebirds which I have never seen before in person. They stayed about 15 minutes just flying around and looking at me, then when rested they took off, never bothering to eat or drink.

I'm way behind posting due to the rapidly changing season, much to do and not enough hours. The day before Halloween was a beautiful fall day and many new birds were migrating through the area. This Merlins Falcon flew in and just perched with never looking my way, just looking over into the neighbors yard where he had just chased away a flock of feeding birds. Then he left as quickly as he had arrived.