The Dove With Glowing Orange Feet
The Dove With Glowing Orange Feet
This was an interesting sight to see this morning when I turned to follow where Mr. Sunshine was looking. Glowing orange feet! They were lovely, but neither irradiated nor magic, only subject to the magic of morning sun. Mr. Sunshine was entranced.
Mr. Sunshine is enchanted by the dove.
Like a Dove in a Snowstorm
Like a Dove in a Snowstorm
Doves will endure inclement weather, like in pouring rain or falling snow, as this dove did today, clinging to a pussy willow branch that swung wildly in the gusts and stayed long enough to get quite a bit of snow on her shoulders.
Did Someone Forget to Pay the Utilities?
Unhappy Dove
Mourning doves are generally not complainers, following the same routines with the same expressions every day no matter the weather or the milieu. I’ve even thought they might not be too observant, quietly remaining as all the other birds in the neighborhood swiftly leave when the hawk lands in the tree just above.
But this guy doesn’t look too happy about yet another cold snowy morning. In fact, I think he feels about the same as most humans did when they woke up to another ten inches of snow with icy decorations.
The Backyard in Winter
Wren at feeder with snow shower
I work at home now, in what was once my living room. But in all the years I worked a day job and imagined working at home, I had an ideal day in each season that came to mind as I thought of “summer” or “winter”.
You'll have to wait your turn.
Today was that winter day. I love snow, but we don’t get a whole lot of it here in Pittsburgh. But a day of frozen earth and hard snow flurries opening out to bright sun reflecting off bare branches–that is winter.
Everybody at the Feeder
And my back yard filled with bird activity, sparrows, mourning doves, showy cardinals, shrieking blue jays, scolding wrens, cheery chickadees, brilliant woodpeckers, and more–that is winter, too.
Bird bath is not a good idea at 21 degrees.
I have various bird feeders in view from each window. I wait for this day, and as the birds flock and flutter I am transfixed. I also count the birds at my feeders for Cornell University’s Feederwatch program, and have grown to know their populations and appreciate their habitats all the more through this.
Wildlife is great entertainment
Great entertainment, that wildlife!
Today 