winter backyard observations

[Linda S Butler <lindasbutler at juno dot com>]

Well I may be a rank beginner but I do know a robin and black-capped
chickadee when I see them. Anyway, like most of northern Utah, we are
living in a misty,foggy, snowy, icy and VERY cold world.
This morning, a number of robins, chickadees and other birds have been
sitting in the bare-branched ash, cherry, and apple trees in my yard. I
noticed that several of the robins and one chickadee have been eating the
frost from the branches! I thought this was interesting.
One smart thing we've done is to keep a set of binoculars on the kitchen
counter so we can grab them any time we want to look up close at a bird
and not have to go dig them out of the closet and return, only to find
the bird has flown away.
Although Spring is nowhere in sight in this 20-degree overcast weather,
there are at least 16 robins perched in our trees!  Their red breasts are
a beautiful contrast to the black branches and the grey skies.
Linda

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