Pretty Quiet in the Frozen North

I have been having fun preparing and uploading photos to my home town, Kenora. Here is one you don't see often. This was way back in the 1880 to 1904 era. The name of Kenora was then Rat Portage

 As you can see from this Mule Deer, we have a Lot of snow!

The bird feeders have been occupied by Pine Grosbeaks

And lots of Blue Jays, all pluffed up trying to stay warm

Bits and Pieces

 I figured that I should maybe post a blog before I forget how! Its been very slow in the great outdoors probably due to the miserable weather. Everybody is in hibernation mode, including me.

My faithful companion is always up for a walk in the woods, or a trip to the Dog Park. Whitecourt is blessed to have a facility as great as Rotary Park! I caught this little guy sitting on a rock wall having breakfast. 

There are still a few Mallards hanging around. If it were me, I would be

in the deep south by now instead of freezing my tail feathers off!

 I have bee adopted by about 6 Blue Jays that are eating my bird seed like its going out of style.
 Then, there is always this guy that figures he should eat for free also. Hopefully the weather improves and I can go farther afield for some photos.

Our Blue Jays

I say ours, because they seem to have adopted us, or at the very least, our bird feeder. 

Some people don't like them, but I enjoy their loud and quirky habits.

Hopefully, they will over winter in our neighbourhood.

The nail strips that were supposed to deter cats don't seem to bother them. I put the bird houses in 3 foot iron posts that seem to work well.

More Birds

One

 Two

 Many

 All waiting for this guy to finish!

 A "Miley" Twerk

 And a good laugh to end it up!

Noon Hour Feeder

Caught him on take off! Finally

 They were definitely hungry today at -21C (-3F)

 Tossing back peanuts like crazy!

 Watching carefully and hoping for left overs.

 Waiting and enjoying some sun.

More Feathered Friends

The word got out pretty fast! Fresh Food! Peanuts!

 Within minutes of going back inside they started to arrive. There must be a sentinel someplace near by.

 Today it was -24C  (-11F)  or -35C (-31F) with the wind chill. I guess they were all looking for food.

 The Blue Jays keep coming back, and can sure de-shell peanuts in a hurry!

 Too cold for outside pictures today, but I did go to town to get a protective screen for my camera view screen.

More Blue Jays

With all the holiday festivities, It's been hard to get out with the camera. Here are a few shots taken Christmas day.

 I have been trying for a while to catch these guys in flight. They are so fast and unpredictable that even with the sequential (burst) shooting they are hard to catch.

 They are also very skittish, and any movement sends them scurrying .

I hope everybody has a safe and Happy New Year!

Welcome to Winter

Normally, we have had snow long before this! About 4 inches came down and the forecast says "Snow for the next two days". Guess it's probably here to say.

 Some of the feathered friends had to dig deep for breakfast.

 No, it's not a ring billed Magpie!

 My feelings are expressed here. Ba Humbug!

The Feeder is Working!

This Blue jay has been coming for a few days, but this is the first I could capture. He is starting to get tamer

Blue Jays at Last!

No, I don't mean the baseball team!

These guys showed up in the neighbour's cherry tree this evening. Time to get the peanuts out to encourage them to stay around this winter.

 This juvenile was tossing the cherries down like there was no tomorrow. I hope Blue jays are not prone to diarrhea!

 They were pretty laid back. Hopefully I will see them again soon.