I've heard the phrase so often, "This weather is for the birds!" Don't you believe it. The ones in my small corner of the world struggle just to stay alive. The first seven days of January here were covered in what the meteorologists called a 'Polar Vortex'. I call it brutal, severe, bone chilling, dangerous and life threatening cold weather. Wildlife and domestic animals can suffer and die from these severe weather systems. Actual high air temperature here on January 7 was 0*F: The low was -16*F. These readings do no reflect a wind chill factor of -40*F at one point! One newscaster reported the temperature was actually warmer at Barrow, Alaska at that time.

My first week of January was spent dressing in layers of winter clothes and moving snow away from walks, bird feeders and garage entrances. If feeders couldn't be reached I pushed snow with the snow plow to make bare spots to scatter mixed bird feed with lots of black sunflower seeds. The first two pictures below were taken from inside. The one at left is from outside my 'computer room' at the back of the house. This is where we have most of the bird feeders and suet blocks. The second picture shows where I have pushed back snow with the snow blade to scatter seed. It is from the kitchen window. The last ones show general snowy, cold conditions.

It has of course warmed up tremendously this past week, and most of the snow has melted. But our care of our ltlle feathered friends continues.

Thank goodness you were there for the birds! I don't know if I could do what you did! I just bunker down when it gets below 20°...can't tolerate cold!

Another snowy day with wind and cold temperatures. We probably got less than 2 inches snowfall today, but enough to cover the scattered seeds and hinder the birds from feeding. The snow is heavy and wet so it is difficult to sweep. I filled the feeders at about 9:00 AM and they have been steadily visited all day. It is a mixed crowd of Juncos, American Tree Sparrows and House Sparrows. There was one Nuthatch. There was one Mourning Dove Monday, but I haven't seen her since. A Red Bellied Woodpecker fed in the front yard oaks yesterday cracking acorns, but has not returned.

Some of these pictures are from last week. Others like the ones below are from today. These are hard to photograph without a little sunlight; especially the dark faces of the Juncos.

Such a pleasure to see these birds Leon.

Thanks Glen,
I had to go out again this morning and remove snow from the feeding areas. I spread a few scoops on my drive-way just to add some food security. Our weather is scheduled to turn bad again in the coming days so that means taking care of these little gems.

Very nice photos, Leon. And a nice group of birds.

This morning arrived with winter weather advisories for late afternoon and evening. So I drove to town to stock up on bird feed, another snow shovel and to get a haircut. Before leaving I filled the feeders,and it seemed the birds knew a storm was on the way by their numbers. There was even a mixed flock at day break on the drive way. I am fascinated by the Juncos and tried getting some decent pictures. There was no sunlight, and heavy clouds made this task difficult. Even the zoom function leaves the close-ups somewhat grainy. At least they fed well before the approaching storm. I am amazed how much seed they scatter beneath the feeders.
1st Picture A Mixed Flock Of Juncos, House Sparrows And Tree Sparrows: 2nd Picture A Junco: 3rd Picture A Junco: 4th Picture Appears To Be A Female Junco.

It began snowing here around 3:00 PM Saturday and didn't stop until before midnight. I kept thinking the birds were so wise to feed heavily Saturday morning, but I wondered just what they would face this morning with so much snow on the ground. I think I counted about 75 birds in a mixed flock on the ground at one point. To make matters worse the wind picked up from the west and drifted badly around and beneath the feeding stations. My first morning job was to clear the walks and drive way of about 6-8 inches of drifted snow. Then I cleaned the areas beneath the feeders and re-filled the feeders themselves. I had just enough sunlight to get a few fairly good pictures. I wanted to try for some close-ups of the American Tree Sparrow. They are one of the smallest of sparrows and migrate thousands of miles here from beyond northern Canada and Alaska. I was also surprised to see one actually cracking open a sunflower seed in the last picture below. Read more at this link:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/g...

I love your running story and pictures, Leon. How are you doing your sequences. Does you camera have a Sports setting?

Thanks Glen. It has a "P" setting for 'Program' which allows me Normal-Macro-Micro. I used the Macro setting today with the zoom lens for as much detail as possible. I get more blurry ones than clear which I delete. I had a little sunlight which helped remove shadows. Yes I have a sports setting which is good for hummingbirds and some insects. Birds and other wildlife have a frigid environment here in winter, so I am sympathetic toward them all.

Another morning arrived with more snow and drifts from high winds last night. Temperatures were in the low, low teens when I got up. Drifts had blown across the walks and drive way so the snow shovel and plow came out. I am sure nature provides well for her birds and animals, however, I worry about their exposure to such bitter conditions. I worry most for the house finches and gold finches which seem to have abandoned the feeders. The mixed flocks which do come seem to stay all day and shelter at night in the hedges and abundant evergreens on the property. I was fortunate to have Blue Jays today and another Red Bellied Woodpecker this afternoon. The woodpecker stayed until late feeding beneath a spruce among the sunflower seeds I had scattered on the ground. I think this was a young male which took seeds to the tree trunk and opened them. I was able to get a couple of fairly good pictures. The first one was on the ground; and probably the best shot. The last one is kind of grainy, but I hated to delte it.

Red-bellied Woodpecker looks great. It is a good looking bird! Don't worry about feeding birds. Humans have done so many bad things to them that doing good is no sin.

If one followed a line from Sault St. Marie, Michigan southward to Lexington, KY you would see temperatures ranging from -11°F, down to -5°F on the bottom of this line. This would translate to -23.8° Celsius to -20.5° Celsius. These temperatures were listed on the weather channel map this morning at 7:45 EST. None of these numbers take into consideration wind chill factors. These numbers make my point of concern for birds and other wild life; and I hope not to sound like an echo day by day. However, for those of us within the violet shading on the map it has become a cold, snowy January to date. The map is shown along with some other data graphics. The last picture is now outdated with over 30" for Jan. 2014.

On the positive side I was rewarded today with some new visitors at the feeders: A House Finch, A Blue Jay & A beautiful Cardinal. My photography skills are a challenge at best with their rapid, continual movements. However, I kept the best of my efforts even though they are of marginal quality: I'm just happy to know they are alive and well! Here are the Cardinal & Blue Jay.

And here are some of the House Finch photos: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/g...

Another bitterly cold day with drifting snow, high winds and currently +2F temperature. I cannot reach the feeders because of the snow drifts, so I threw several scoops onto shallow snow covered areas. This was on the protected side of the house out of the winds. I was able to get a shot of my 'acrobat' bird the white breasted nuthatch which battled with a pendulum-like suet cage blowing in the wind.

What a wonderful surprise today to actually see a Black-Capped Chickadee at a suet block near a back window. These tiny birds are a distinct part of my childhood woodland & meadow memories. As early as 5th grade I can recall flocks of them in clearings and wooded areas where shrubs, golden rods and poke berries had grown the previous summer. Snow was no deterrent to keep them from the natural food sources. With the loss of wildlife habitat I am happy to know this little friend visited here today.

It has been at least two years since I had seen this species here locally, and I am ecstatic to know at least one has visited here today! Our weather at the time of these pictures was bright and sunny, but sub-zero temperatures and bitterly cold wind. We had dropped to -18F at about 7:00 AM; and our current reading is +1F @1:42 PM. For interested readers this link will tell more about these very small, yet tough little feathered visitors: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/g...

Leon, I love the chickadees, they are my favorite small bird, we get the Mountain and the Black-capped. We have nest boxes with just the right size entry holes and they have use them for several years, with the exception of last year, we had a Northern Shrike preying on all the birds and I think that's why they didn't nest here.

Margaret, I was beginning to think they had left my region because of habitat. That is why I was so happy to see this one. And I am hoping that I can encourage them to stay. Do you know the diameter of the opening in your nest boxes? We have wren boxes with openings of 1 inch diameter. This is something I will certainly follow up before spring arrives. I would not welcome a Northern Shrike here. Looking at the North American map it looks like they range far south into our area. I will keep my eyes open. Thanks for that information. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/g...

Even with the cold temps today we had lots of sunshine which is always welcome for pictures. The birds seemed to welcome the sun too. The first two are house sparrows absorbing sunlight in a Weigela shrub. Third is a Junco, and the 4th I'm not sure. They all seem to fluff out their feathers to help retain warmth.

Some of the regular visitors to our suet feeders are a couple of pileated woodpeckers.

I was really surprised when this Sharp Shinned Hawk showed up, he was not successful in getting a meal on this visit.