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.
