Feeding the Birds

I've never fed the bird this late in the year but apparently winter is still here so the birds need food. The upside is that there has been a lot of activity for me to watch which is good because I'm rather house-bound now. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

There's just something about tugboats, isn't there? Maybe it comes from their cute factor or maybe it's because they figure as lead characters in several childhood stories. Regardless, I love them, don't you? Normally I see them pulling large barges way out in Lake Huron. This one might be on the way to meet a client.

I've ordered vegetable seeds (green and yellow beans, peas, yellow and green zucchini, buttercup squash, a gorgeous type of hollyhock, flat leaf parsley, Swiss chard, etc.) for the garden and they should arrive soon. Planting in the snow? I hope not!! Will this be a year without summer like the year 1816?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer

Purple Finch - Haemorhous purpureus

Purple Finch - Haemorhous purpureus

I think this is a purple finch but I also have redpolls here and they both frequent my feeders.. They both remind me of the red factor roller canaries I bred for many years. Although their name is "purple finch" I think the color is more like a dusty red perhaps.

http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/purple-finch

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Redpoll/overview

Bear is my watchdog. Nothing escapes his notice especially furry four footed things like foxes, raccoons, rabbits, possums, woodchucks. Large birds like crows, hawks, turkey vultures also rouse his ire. Today he warned me about this pileated woodpecker. Gorgeous.

http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/pileated-woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker - Hylatomus pileatus

Pileated Woodpecker - Hylatomus pileatus

Pileated Woodpecker - Hylatomus pileatus

Pileated Woodpecker - Hylatomus pileatus

Pileated woodpeckers have (had?) a much larger cousin the Ivory Billed Woodpecker but that is either rare or extinct now.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivory-billed_woodpecker

Some dormant plants I ordered last winter just arrived - bare root. I cannot imagine "when" I will be able to plant them what with the snow and my temporary limited mobility. Normally at this time of year planting would not be an issue.