WHY IS IT SO COLD?

The wind gusts have wiped the feeder tray clean of seeds & hulls, and also made beautiful snow drifts (that require more shoveling – ugh!) Interesting weather going on here – incredibly bitter cold and very windy. They say it’s been over 20 years since we’ve seen weather like this, but I don’t remember it ever being this frigid.

The birds continue to come for food – they’re too small to manage without eating often. The goldfinches, juncos and house finches come in groups of a dozen or more, but the cardinals come alone. In spite of the cold, they still wait on nearby branches and twigs for their turn at the feeder if it’s already full. A very interesting synchronization! The juncos are primarily ground feeders but are happy to eat at the feeder now that snow has covered the seeds on the ground. For the second day, I haven’t seen any squirrels. Must be they’re able to stockpile their calories and semi-hibernate until it warms up a bit.

The good news is it’s supposed to gradually warm up and be above freezing by the weekend!