Avian Roundup (+ Rabbit Poop, Squirrel Corn, and Icog)

Or, studies in wildlife. I'd never seen a common / northern flicker before. Look at these great closeup shots I got, courtesy of my new birdbath heater near the patio door.

This is the most beautiful bird I've seen in my backyard. And did you know they're considered ground woodpeckers? First time I saw this guy swoop through the yard I thought we had a hawk.

Flicker shunning.

Flicker balance beam.

Flicker GQ.

Floating cardinal. Most of the cardinals here are magicians who were scheduled to appear on Conan O'Brien in March, but....

Junco v. strawberry. Who will make the first move?

The squirrel soon ran up the elm and into the cedars with its catch of the day. After pillaging the bird feeders.

Rabbit scat!!! Yay!!! I pretend they are berries. Na na na, la la la la. They are berries. There are no rabbits. There are no rabbits. There are no rabbits.

The chicken wire around the shrubs, to keep the wabbits at bay, caught the snow most interestingly.

That's a 3 foot drift on the right by the arbor. We've had almost 3 feet of snow already this year, 15 inches above average.

With the snow melt during the day, and hard freezes at night, ice fog / freezing fog develops. This is another reason not to cut back plants in the fall. The last two mornings every object has been covered in a frothy white that is stunning in the sunlight.

And finally--GO MINNESOTA VIKINGS!