But ask the animals, and they will teach you,
      or the birds of the air, and they will tell you... Job 12:7


    

A little less than a week prior to the BIG storm, we had "signs"...

(click on each pic for a larger view)

First, this little guy showed up...

...and boy was he HUNGRY!!

Then, 2 much larger ones came the next day.

And they ate...

...and ate...

...and ate...

...and ate...

...no, this is NOT an exaggeration!

...and ate...

...and ATE!!!

Each one came and stayed for more than an hour at a time, eating the ENTIRE time!

And then the birds and ice came...

Chickadee

Downy Woodpecker

Then the squirrels (we should have REALLY known something was brewing by now...they usually chase each other away from the food!)

Beautiful but dangerous!

                                       

 

Then, the snow came!

March 8, 2008

Poor Duncan!

Sad, snowy Duncan face!

About 9:30am, March 8, 2008.

At least 6" of snow.

Looking out from the front door...as the snow piles up

Blizzard!

Garbage cans are a good way to measure snow depth, LOL! :)

Can't even find half the bushes that are under all the snow!

Stonecrop turns to mushrooms ;)

And it snowed...

...and snowed...

Liam's slide and a bush out back

Liam was amused by the snow on his swingset

Poor Mrs. Cardinal! She's hanging on for dear life in the wind.

White-Throated Sparrow

Such a handsome fella!

Song Sparrow braces against the snow and wind

Red-Bellied Woodpecker stops by for some extra crunchy peanut butter (lots of protein; helps keep birds warm! :)

They gathered in the trees near the feeders

Including the largest flock of Red-Winged Blackbirds we've ever seen!

Poor guy, covered in snow!

If you feed them...they will come...'specially in a blizzard!

...and they came!

Although there were a few other birds (like Cowbirds and Grackles) in this flock, there were still about 50 Red-Winged Blackbirds.

Now it's around noon...several more inches of snow

The boxwoods are buried!

Just bumps where the boxwoods "used to be".

And more snow piles up around the doors (about 10" on the ground now).

...and it continues to snow...

...and snow...

...and blow!

And the doggies need to GO!

Kinda hard to go in the snow!

Then they decided to make the best of it and decided to play: ("How many can you catch on your tongue, Duncan?!" says Emmett. :)

"I think I made a BIG mistake!" (Yellow-Shafted Flicker, wishing he'd stayed south just a few more days, or maybe a month!)

"Come on, Dude, share the peanut butter feeder!" (says the Nuthatch to the Flicker)

"Yeah, we want some too!" (says the male Downy Woodpecker, braving the big beak!)

"If I hide just so, maybe he can't see me?" (thinks the Nuthatch)

Larry decides we'd better start clearing some snow or we may NEVER get out (more than a foot now)!

So he clears the driveway, but it just piles back on behind him (this is minutes after he used the snow thrower).

Very snowy driveway

And our mailbox doesn't look too good out there, but at least you can see it now. Wind and snow letting up a bit.

Liam enjoys the snow the next day :)

He had fun trying to walk (it was up to his thighs in places)

Shaun and Liam

Shaun the snow elf ;)

YEAH!!! :) (Liam)