Arctic Tuesday!!! Brrrrrrr

Very cold temperatures today in the heartland so the bird feeders and squirrel feeding area were all quite busy.  The two top photographs are of the elusive Eurasian Collared-Dove that is so shy of the camera.  He was so cold he let me take pictures of him at two of the feeders today.  After I photographed him I stepped away to let him have his fill before he departed.  He really is too big for the feeders, but the finch and cardinals all feed with him so I figure if he breaks a feeder I'll try to fix it or go look for a new one. 



This species of dove was introduced from Europe and has only been in our area for about 5 years.  Initially, all of our Mourning Doves left the neighborhood when they moved in, but this summer I found both species feeding together and interacting in a friendly manner.  They are quite a bit larger than the Mourning Doves.

The photo below is of a squirrel that was checking me out while I was on the telephone this morning to see if I was going to take pity on him and feed him some peanuts.  He worked so hard to get to that area of the grapevine I couldn't refuse his effort...plus he did the little front paws rolled into the chest, head tilted, body shaking maneuver that would put Olivier (insert great actor of your generation here) to shame.

Look at how thick the fur on his ears has gotten.  A sign of the winter months ahead?  Yikes!!

Stay warm!!
Laurie