Now that both cold and snow (as you’ll see in a minute) have arrived, the wildlife have as well. The birds have found the feeders again–this is a female downy woodpecker enjoying some suet. Lots of others also enjoy this including nutchatches, red-bellied wodpeckers, and occasional hairy woodpecker–and the juncos are the clean-up crew for the scraps that fall. Best of all, this feeder is pretty squirrel-proof.
I hadn’t seen too much evidence of deer in the yard–but these long, almost ski-like tracks prove they’ve been here. I’m not sure what, if anything they’re eating. They may have cleaned me out earlier this fall and are just passing through for a drink.
Once the backyard pond freezes like this, everything loves it, because they can just walk onto it and drink from the fountain. You can see the tracks in the snow. The lighter bird tracks aren’t as visible as the squirrel and deer tracks.
