Still Below zero..... winter birds remain

What we do 'cause we have to.....

Clearing out for the birds, they come first!!
Have remarkable goldfinches, purple finches and the occasional snow burning flock!

snow buntings fly and feed

These snow buntings have taken up winter residence across the road from us, at our neighbor's house.
Perching on the power lines, flying and swooping in the air to come down on the ground or their deck, they feed on cracked corn.  They have visited us several times briefly. They have given us such delight this winter.

More Snow Buntings

Snow buntings will in fact come to a porch or deck for food. They don't stay long though.

Snow Buntings Visit

A flock of 60 + snow buntings visits the field in front of the house. They are spending most of their time at the neighbors house, roosting on their barn and powerlines, feeding on the ground around their buildings. They have been seen to fly about during snow storms, landing, feeding and then flying up again into the snow, up and down, up and down. Amazing to watch. A good bird for a winter like this, something to enjoy every day.

John spots the first Snowy Owl for Winter 2014

At noon today, on the way into Newport, John spotted crows harassing something on the ground across from the Airport in Coventry.  He said...SNOWY! and I knew we had one. Across from the entrance to the airport where we go to lunch at Parker Pie Wings sometimes, the poor owl was very annoyed by the crows and flew to the peak of a nearby red, single story house. That was where we left it. This picture is the one we spotted a few years back on Dane Hill Road, not far from where we live. Today's bird was more gray than this one, perhaps an immature. I soon received comments from the posting on the VT Bird listserv to the effect that snowy owls that sit on chimneys become gray from the smoke! That is interesting to think about. The picture on my cell phone is useless
because I don't know how to download it to the computer at the moment. I think we all know what these birds look like by now. We will definitely go back and have another look with a better camera, long lens.