Quite the Day

[yourlibrarian]

Last Friday our area got about 8 hours of first rain, then ice, then snow. Our balcony turned into a bird sanctuary as high winds kept sending all the precipitation sideways (and causing damage along the way).

For anyone interested I uploaded some brief clips of their comings and goings



When the snow came down it was in large flakes which tended to show up particularly well on camera. I rather liked this picture of a tree with the snow going by (given the wind, very little of it was settling anywhere but on the ground).

Comments

[frith]

I particularly like the finch on the railing watching the snow just coming down.

[yourlibrarian]

In this case it was more like the snow whipping across (along with pieces of debris). We've seen the birds take refuge on the balcony before during bad weather, and though they are normally loathe to stay exposed on it for long, they were clearly hesitant about leaving it.

[the_broken_tower]

So many birds. :)

And snow! What part of the world are you in?

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, it wasn't so much that more were visiting than usual but rather that they were lingering instead of popping by and then flying off again. So there were 15 or more at a time there.

We're in Illinois in the U.S.

[shirebound]

Your home has a 5-star rating in the Birds Needing Balconies guidebook! Wow, what a crazy storm.

[yourlibrarian]

We may have regained some points in Birdie Zagat 😉

[marycatelli]

It happens.

Goldfinches must recommend my neighborhood for the coneflower stands. The seeds get thoroughly munched on.

[yourlibrarian]

Birds be networking.

[adafrog]

Safe little birdies.

[yourlibrarian]

At least on that day!

[brightly_lit]

Aw, all the birdies hanging out together, feeling safe there, waiting it out. Great pictures!

[yourlibrarian]

Thanks 🙂 And yes, they all made the same decision that day!

[weofodthignen]

Poor little things, must have been brutal.

[yourlibrarian]

I would think so, yes. Wet, cold, and difficult to fly -- not an ideal day 😞

[sparowe]

Oh, how special! Sweet little dears, I'm glad they sheltered there. :)

[yourlibrarian]

The company was nice -- none of us knew what was coming next!

[cmcmck]

I'm glad the birds found somewhere to shelter!

[yourlibrarian]

They are definitely foul weather friends though. The next day, just a few quick visits!

[turlough]

Scary weather! I'm glad the birds had somewhere to wait it out.

[yourlibrarian]

Yep, we got plenty of it one week. Hopefully we're all done with it for the year!

[silveradept]

Oof. Good that the birds could find a place out of the storm, and the pictures of the storm make it look prettier than it probably was.

[yourlibrarian]

Snow really is pretty and it was very visible, whereas sometimes with high winds and small flakes it's more of a blur than a snowfall. I think mostly that day it was a matter of "what's next?"