The arctic vortex reached Lexington last week and our temperatures hovered around 0°F (-15°C) for several days – our coldest temperatures in a decade. The main part of our water feature was covered with ice and snow, an unusual happening.
Category: Critters
Cardinals and more cardinals
Our backyard birds are good winter entertainment. We have a table in front of a window that overlooks the backyard, and we often enjoy watching the birds as we eat. The number and variety of birds we see varies. However, we can almost always expect some cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) will come to feed late in the day. Recently, about 6 p.m., this was the scene.
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Happy New Year!
As we approach a new year, I’m looking back on 2013. This is one of my favorite photos of the year. Harry and I were hiking on a trail near the Cumberland River last April when I spotted this unusual crawdad (crayfish). I’ve never seen one this colorful before.
Hooray for the winter solstice!
I’m looking forward to celebrating the winter solstice, our shortest day of the year, on Saturday, December 21. After that, our days will begin to get longer and we’ll start moving toward spring.
I appreciate winter a little more knowing it won’t last forever. So here’s to the wonder of winter, including the magic of snow, bare tree branches, and bright red cardinals.
Hawks in the backyard
We were privileged to have two different hawks in the backyard last week. Harry noticed a large bird eating a squirrel in our white pine tree (Pinus strobus). It was snowing and my view was limited. However, this photo shows the brownish belly band that helped us identify it as a red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). This is the first time we’ve seen one in the backyard.
