the birds of circus forticus

Friends, it's been a time around here. The start of the year has not been particularly kind in terms of weather, health, school/work, or pretty much any other metric. But we're still here, and so are the birds. Lately it feels like the whole world is on fire, so I find it really comforting to spend part of each day watching (and taking pictures of) the birds outside my office window. I've got a great setup: There are feeders directly in front, and small trees to each side. This winter, I've seen hawks, cardinals, blue jays, finches, chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers (downy and red-bellied), sparrows, European starlings, and juncos, among others. It's a show I never get tired of watching, and here are some of my favorites:

finally we go outside

I'm finally well again! I've been a little stir crazy these past few weeks, so it felt really good to get outside this morning. Liam had a speech meet, so he couldn't join us, but the rest of us headed to Potato Creek to do a little hike as the snow started to fall. We timed it just right -- we got back home right before the snow really started coming down and the roads got bad. The dogs really enjoyed being out in a new environment, the kids and adults liked getting out of the house, and as a bonus, we had some pretty great bird sightings!