Today the sun turned to liquid. The temperature hovered slightly above zero, and, although the forecast was for light rain, it was coming down heavily for a good portion of the day, with intermittent sleet. This curtailed any idea of walking at my usual time...I finally ventured out about 4 p.m. when it had lightened up.
Looking out the front window this morning, I was happy to see a Varied Thrush hopping about and took the following photos through the window. Not great photos because I was inside and the weather was dreary, but at least he was obliging to show himself off at various angles.
There were a few chickadees feeding off the suet feeders and one decided to visit the birdbath. Look carefully to find it! There are still ice remnants visible on the ground that I removed from the birdbath a couple of days ago.
As you can see Harry was dripping wet.
Even a very tall evergreen close by, and towering above, did not protect him from the elements.
I took photos of his trunk and branches, and measured circumference and height as best as
I could.
Circumference of trunk: 11 inches
Harry's Height: 90 inches or 7 1/2 feet
Today the view was slightly somber!
On my walk home, the impending darkness highlighted that celebrations were still shining brightly, including the snowman I took a photo of the other day where he looked rather skeletal when not in his shining glory ;)
After going to all the effort of putting up this lighting and decoration, I can understand never wanting to take it down!
Adding to the ambience of the pretty lights, the aroma of home-cooked meals seemed to fill the air as it was getting close to supper time ...yum!
Light rain is forecast for the next couple of days and then the sun will be back! I am counting on that!
In the meantime, I am reorganizing and sorting a room upstairs, and getting files in order for the new year!
What a pretty bird the Varied Thrush is. I assume the Christmas lights will be switched off after 12th night - then it will look very dreary in the Winter rain.
ReplyDeleteWhat a handsome little bird, I've just had to order more bird feed, I can't keep up with their demands at the moment
ReplyDeleteAt 4pm here today it was dark and wet!
ReplyDeleteAhem, I thought that your tree's name was Harzel!
Your neighbourhood will be positively dull when those lights are turned off. Flighty xx
Hi John ~ The Varied Thrush does have nice markings which makes it look eye-catching. It is a largish bird (in comparison to the chickadees, for example)... about the size of a blackbird or slightly larger than one of our robins.
ReplyDeleteI was kind of hoping they'd leave the lights up all year ;)
Hi UHDD ~ Glad you liked the look of the Varied Thrush...nice markings. I'm not surprised you'd need more bird food after all that wintry snow. I noticed that the suet blocks were gone from the shelves yesterday, but they'll have more on Friday. I bought a woodpecker block instead, so I'll see if any come around.
Hi Flighty ~ well, the name of my tree is Harzel, but Harry still fits for short ;) Yes, the neighbourhood will look a lot less festive when the Christmas lights are out ~ once the days get a bit longer it will be brighter at that time, though.