On New Year’s Day I was delighted (and slightly bewildered) to see a ladybug crawling across the kitchen window - on the outside! Given that it’s now January. And there have been numerous killing frosts and weeks below freezing, even though the 1st was hovering somewhere in the low 40s. Still ladybugs are near and dear to my heart and I look forward to what this portends for the coming year.
Meanwhile the rustback chickadees are hanging out in a flock of about 40 letting me know when the feeder is empty, I’m late to fill it and otherwise falling behind on my responsibilities. The pine tree where the feeder hangs is alive with life from dawn to dusk. From the branches to the ground birds, squirrels and chipmunks below. Every now and then there’s an exotic visitor like a wood pigeon or blue jay that can’t fit on the feeder and doesn’t want to be on the ground but just wants to be part of the social scene.