The other morning, through the falling snow I noticed a bird different from the normal crew of chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers etc. Getting out the binoculars, I was surprised to see this male Red-winged Blackbird pecking away at the suet. I haven’t seen one for weeks so this guy either missed the departure announcement or was passing through from up north.

After a half hour of feeding he departed, hopefully southward. It will be four months or so until we first hear that “conk-la ree” that tells us that Spring in fact is about here.