Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Wildlife on a Snowy Day

Winter started with a bang here in Portland, Oregon.  Although our mountains get tons of snow every year, it's a rarity in the Willamette River Valley.

But so far this year is anything but normal.....

Little birdie on top of the feeder

Our first storm came in early December.  Meteorologists tracked a huge band of moisture moving northward towards the city, and warned it was bringing large accumulations of snow and freezing rain.  Since our local governments don't have a huge amount of snow removal equipment and most people aren't equipped to drive in the white stuff, schools and workplaces were preemptively closed metro-wide.  We got the news early one Thursday morning, before any flakes had even begun to fall.


Striking a pose

It was weird sitting home on a snow day without any snow.  My hubby and I busied ourselves with household chores.  But I became distracted by the many hungry birds visiting our backyard feeders.  Grabbing my camera, I tried to capture their antics through our dining room window.


The snow came down fast and furious!

Just when I thought the weatherman had missed the ball, I noticed snowflakes twirling in the wind.  It didn't take long for the sky to turn white.  And pretty soon our backyard did too.


Big snowflakes

Oh, the falling snow was so pretty!  Some of the snowflakes were huge, drifting softly to earth.  I stood by our back window mesmerized. 


"Don't bother me, I'm eating!"

The cold and snow brought birds out in force!  Our feeders are close to our house, and I think not only did they offer food, they also provided a bit of shelter from the wind. 


This bird sat right down in the seed

One little bird even made himself comfortable in the seed box!


A bird feeder bandit!

Of course, birds weren't the only critters attracted to the bounty.  I caught this furry bandit atop one of the feeders.


Amazing acrobatics

Squirrels are amazing acrobats!  This big guy hung from his hind legs while nibbling on a chunk of suet.


Showing me his best side!

Although I'm not happy with the squirrels stealing all the seed, I have to admit they are awfully fun to watch.  What better entertainment on a cold, snowy day?


25 comments:

  1. Linda, I am thoroughly enjoying your winter photos!!! Thank you so much for sharing and please keep them coming! :)

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  2. Linda thank you for sharing the magic of snow falling in your garden. Your photos of the birds and squirrels are just delightful. It certainly seems to be a snowy winter in the west.

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  3. Muito importante estes comedores e abrigos para animais quando está mau tempo.
    Um abraço e boa semana.
    Andarilhar

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  4. I enjoyed the photos. Just perfect to be able to watch the snow from inside and see how the birds cope with an unexpected fall.

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  5. Your visiting birds, and squirrel, thank you. Love your wacky squirrel!
    Too much snow.. we have inches and inches, and it's still coming down. What a weird winter we're having. Stay safe and warm, my friend.

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  6. The squirrel stole the show and the food.

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  7. Hello, I am sure the birds appreciated your feeders. They all seem a little more hungry when it snows. The squirrel is a cutie! Great shots. Happy Wednesday, enjoy your day!

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  8. Bird have a good sense of coming weather. They usually hit the feeders 24 hours before a storm moves in. I hope you kept warm and safe.

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  9. These are sweet! The critters are so adorable. Squirrels are so entertaining with their acrobatics!

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  10. Nice series! Makes me feel guilty for not getting my feeder filled!

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  11. Beautiful birds !! I'm glad that you help them survive the winter !!
    Greetings

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  12. I'm sure the critters are thankful that they have a place to eat in the snow. Lovely photos of your critter visitors.

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  13. Very pretty wildlife. It's always nice to see some snow at the house!

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  14. Nice wildlife shots. It always makes you feel good as well as helping the birds when you put feed out for them as you never know what will appear when the snow falls. Had a big sparrowhawk last week feeding on the bird feeder birds. Nature at its best.

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  15. Hi! It looks very nice to see birds eating foods from your feeder. I enjoyed the squirrels eating foods with various kind of poses. Thanks for sharing.

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  16. We never get snow days over here! You must be in heaven with the winter we are having. Skiing for months!

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  17. Your bird and squirrel photos are amazing! We were headed out Sat. to Milwaukie. I was waiting for Phil in the car and a small yellow/black bird was taking shelter and moving around in our juniper by the driveway. Too bad I had my camera in back seat. I could have taken a photo of him...although he was moving around a bit. Fun to watch. Enjoyed sunlight through ice drops on a holly plant by the road on the way to work this a.m. So cold here still! And our blower in the furnace isn't working well so it's not real warm in the house. Good thing I grabbed a couple ceramic heaters at work today...they were the last ones as well. All the ice melt sold out today and the warehouse is completely out too! What are we gonna do?! Stay warm and cozy! Hugs!

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  18. Hello Linda, I enjoyed your snow birds post. The photos are wonderful. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Enjoy your day and weekend!

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  19. Wonderful nature shots of the critters doing their antics to get some good ~ thanks,

    Wishing you a Happy Weekend ~ ^_^

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  20. Nice shots of the birds and squirrel. Love the snow shots too.

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  21. We've only had a few inches of snow... very light this year! We have squirrels at the feeders too. This many there were two working out that so I went out and scared them off. They eat too much food!

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  22. Great photos of the "local" wildlife

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  23. Love your little critters! Thanks for sharing. :-)

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  24. I heard about Portland's historic snowfall, Linda! I saw on the news this evening icy storms are coming your way --be safe! I'm glad you feed the birds (and Squirrels..lol) and loved your photos!

    Snow is a pretty common event where I live in Colorado, but not the epic amounts the high Rockies get. Crested Butte had to close their ski resort after getting 6 feet of snow--very unusual to get that all at once. We had Chinook winds while the Rockies had their storms--they were an experience--lots of howling.

    Let's hope the winter weather clams down soon!

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