A Bird in the Hand...

We had our first snow today…not very much…just a pretty, snow globe-ish sight to awaken to, gently coating the grass with flecks of sparkly white. Just recently, we’ve also been able to feed the Chickadees by hand again…something we first tried last winter here. All summer they want nothing to do with us really. Just make sure the feeder is kept full. But come cooler days, they are more apt to come and sit upon our hand, ever so briefly. Perhaps they prefer the warmth of our hand to the chill of the metal feeder. In any event it is a fragile, sweet connection to nature. I still remember the day my friend was visiting last winter and I was telling her about this...and she immediately proclaimed "I HAVE to have that experience!!!" It truly is a special experience, although it didn't work for her that day.

Hub went out this morning and he said the Chickadees came to his hand without much hesitation. Too bad I was wrapped up snuggly in bed under layers of down and missed out. But there’ll be plenty of opportunities in the cold, dark wintry days ahead.

I’m looking forward to snowy wintertime just slightly on this day…and the other changes that take place in nature. Like the Snowshoe Hare that puts on a pretty winter coat of white fur and blends into the landscape…only the slight brown-gray of it’s ears giving it away when it moves or stands upright to nibble on some tall twigs. And the plump Ruffed Grouse that perch precariously upon our tiny willow tree branches looking as though they're struggling not to fall off. Or the mysterious, lone Northern Shrike, a larger songbird with a curved beak that comes to visit here just in the wintertime. Last winter I witnessed one impale and then fly off with a mouse underneath our birdfeeder. The ever-present Deer change with winter too, growing a thick, furry coat and at times seeking solace in our woods, laying down to slumber and getting buried by a deep snow. Just last night we had a buck in our yard with big antlers…perhaps looking for a safe haven from the hunting season which begins today. I'm with them...staying OUT of the woods!

So I think I’m almost ready for winter and excited about the changes that take place. Just don't ask me how I’m feeling about winter come January though. ;)

(Note: Photos above taken last winter - 2007.)