Dec. 20. 2020 - Winter Photos

We had some snow here in Minnesota back in October, but then it melted, and we haven’t had any more until two days ago. Back in October, I tried for some winter photos using my “hat feeder” which I showed you in an earlier post https://www.earlorfphotos.com/Pictures-of-the-Week/2020-Pictures-of-the-Week/Sept-13-2020-The-Hat-Feeder/ . I added a couple of branches with small crab apples, put some seed in the feeder and didn’t have long to wait. Black-capped Chickadees are always the first birds to explore something new.

ChickadeeBlackcappedDunningLakeItascaCounty20201127

Of course, it wasn’t long before one of our resident Red Squirrels also found this new feeder because it was on the ground where the squirrel could get at it.

SquirrelRedDunningLakeItascaCounty20201127

Hairy Woodpeckers have been consistent visitors to our feeders all year.

WoodpeckerHairyfemaleDunningLakeItascaCounty20201211

Lately, we’ve had a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers in our yard. This is a male. Note the red “moustache” and the red feathers on his head that go all the way down to his beak.

WoodpeckerPileatedmaleDunningLakeItascaCounty20201017

Here’s the female Pileated Woodpecker. She has a black “moustache” and the red feathers are only on the top of her head.

WoodpeckerPileatedfemaleDunningLakeItascaCounty20201124

As the snow was melting off our roof, it didn’t form the traditional icicles. It melted into some interesting lacey patterns like this.

IceFormationDunningLakeItascaCounty20201125

About a month ago, while we were driving up to our lake home, I spotted this Northern Shrike in a tree along the road. By the time I turned the car around to get a photo, the shrike had flown down into the grass and captured this rodent.

ShrikeNorthernwithpreyItasca20201121