Early spring arrives in Ohio in a rather erratic fashion, winter worn and weary, we are teased with a morning of brilliant sunshine. The birds sing, the daffodils and crabapple nod flowery yellow & white heads.
Ah, but lest we think it’s time to get out the lawn chairs, noontime brings a surprise snowstorm that catches us all unaware. The birds are especially bewildered by the snowy blast, many have started nests and have tiny eggs hidden away in the bird boxes, thankfully this will be a brief wintry event, snowy as it seems.
The sun will reappear shortly but in the meantime there is a flurry of activity and the small folk of our place seem chilly and yet hopeful.
We have rather an amazing rapport
with the birds, especially a resident small flock of Bluebirds have come to call Foxglove home. I’ll share their stories in upcoming blog posts, they’ve become quite tame and follow me around the farm hoping for a handout of their favorite snacks. I’m only too happy to keep tidbits for such beautiful visitors. It’s a gift to live in such a beautiful setting, to have close daily contact with such a delightful cast of tiny characters, even the small Red Squirrel who has come to consider our farm his own personal source of all peanut flavored snacks!
He closes his bright eyes as the snow comes down and frosts his furry coat.
I tap the window glass to send him scurrying, it’s time the Cardinals had a chance at the feeder too!
Daffodils bend low as the temperature dips below freezing, ah but this is Ohio and fear not, the sun will return. By this afternoon, the birds will sing happily as they work on small nests and begin laying plans for a summer with winter past for another year.
This post is wonderful. I too watch the birds build their nests and the babies learn to fly as they struggle from their nests. We have no shortage of squirrels and watching the babies appear is delightful. I love your pictures,how did you get some of them? It takes hours to get some of those pictures. You must have more patience than I do. However, with your long winters you probably learn to be more patient than we in Florida do, who have good weather all the time and we really never stop “going”.
Thank you for sending this delightful post. What a great way to start my morning.
Hi Susan, Thank you so much for your kind words : ) Yes, Ohio is famous for her long seriously cold winters & long ago I figured out that enjoying the birds was fun for me and helps them too! I have an amazing camera, it’s not terribly expensive but takes wonderful closeups, even through my windows which is super helpful when it’s snowing outside lol! The Bluebird photos are my most exciting to me, I’ll be posting more about them, but working at attracting them with the right birdhouse, then feeding them has brought them within inches of my kitchen windows!