Winter birds

 We had a dusting of snow Thursday night. Friday morning was below zero again, keeping the snow light and fluffy. When I stepped out as it was getting light to do the chicken chores, I saw delicate bird footprints in the snow, tiny and perfect. I could think of two reasons that the birds were on the sidewalk. When it is very cold, salt does not melt snow. Terry puts sand on the icy patches. He told me that as soon as he did it, the driveway was swarmed with birds picking up gravel for their gizzards. That’s the first reason. Over by the side door, where I go out to feed the chickens, I have noted that the monstrous evening primrose plant (see blogs from last summer) is still scattering seeds all over the place. That’s the second reason.

Tiny footprints in the blue morning light

Even better than footprints was this wing print. I admire how the flight feathers spread out evenly. I couldn’t tell if the bird was landing or taking off, or if this was the result of some sort of confrontation over resources or perhaps a recovery from accidentally hoping off the edge of the step. Can birds be that clumsy? I know I can.

Wing print

Terry put the bird feeders back on the deck. The cats spend hours staring out the windows, lying low on the cat trees in stalking position, apparently unaware that there is glass in between. The birds, meanwhile, have been throwing seeds to the ground, as is their habit. The ground-feeding birds love that!

Festival of Free Food

We have tree sparrows. I had to watch this one for several minutes until I saw the characteristic dark spot on its breast.

Tree sparrow

House finches and juncos are probably the most numerous visitors.

Junco behind a house finch

There are plenty of goldfinches also, although they are harder to spot because they are not gold this time of year.

Not gold goldfinch

A male cardinal inspired me to get my camera, but by the time I got back, he was gone. I got a picture of the female, though.

Ms. Cardinal

This downy woodpecker, ever thrifty, was picking up sunflowers from the ground and stuffing them into this crack on the deck support. She should have been watching her back because after she flew away, that junco hopped over to the post and started pecking out the seeds.

Thrify downy woodpecker stalked by theiving junco

The mourning doves hang around.

Mourning dove

A tree sparrow moved over to the patio, either to get out of the wind or to eat gravel or weed seeds. I don’t judge.

Tree sparrow digging around in a weed on the patio

Later in the day, I saw the male cardinal fly into the orchard and land in an apple tree. The red of the cardinal against the white snow is cliché, but I still love seeing it.

Coming in for a landing

Getting his balance

The predicted “heat wave” blew in overnight. It was 23° when I got up today. I shoveled the snow off the dust bath and opened the lid. It took numerous tries to get the coop door open. It was iced up in several places, which I found one at a time. I’ll be wiser next time, now that I know the spots.

I threw down some scratch grains to encourage the girls to come out. Goldie is looking a lot better now that Brownie is not around to pester her anymore. The feathers on her back and face have grown in nicely.

Goldie with her feathers grown back

Silvia spotted the dust bath as soon as she came out of the coop and was in it immediately. Soon afterward, all three of the golden Wyandottes hopped in. That was mighty crowded. Did I have my camera? I did not. When I got back, only Silvia and Bonnie were in the bath, but both were making the most of it. Look at the gravel fly!

Silvia and Bonnie in the dust bath

Awhile later, two Wynadottes and Silvia were in the bath.

Rub a dub dub, three hens in a tub--look at all the gravel out on the snow!

By 11:00, everyone had had enough of the dust bath and/or the cold and retreated to the perch in the coop. With more freezing rain on the way, I put the cover back on.

My mother left behind a quantity of crème de menthe and crème de cacao. My guess is that she had them for grasshopper pie. I figured I’d better learn to make it so I could use up the booze. I used the recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook. If it’s White food, Betty will never steer you wrong. It’s a strange recipe that begins by melting marshmallows into milk. I was expecting something like Rice Krispie treat goo, but it was totally different. The marshmallows just dissolved, making a slightly thick liquid. I slowly added the two liqueurs and green food coloring, then folded it into a whole lot of whipped cream. Into an Oreo crust, and Bob’s your uncle!

Grasshopper pie, containing no actual grasshoppers

It's a very fluffy pie. I would prefer it to be more the texture of ice cream. Also, the Oreo crust was too hard. Perhaps I should not have baked it. I only made it with Oreos because I had them on hand. Maybe a standard chocolate cookie crust would be better. Obviously, further research is needed. God knows I’ve got a lot of liqueurs left!