December 11 Blizzard

Feeder and coneflower stalks seen through snow-spattered window

The front window looked like this by midday

Pine Siskins lunching as the snow flies

By evening I am guessing we had 15 inches of new snow on the ground here in Northfield, and the snow was tapering down. The winds remain, bringing below-zero temperatures overnight and blizzard-like conditions into the morning. We're not out of the woods yet!

See more December 11 blizzard photos here. I'll add more in the morning.

The Cannon Freezes

On Monday the Cannon River just upstream from the dam was mostly covered with snow-topped ice, with just a narrow channel of open water down the middle. One of my Facebook friends posted about how lovely it was to go skiing in the Cowling Arboretum with the nearby river still open. I agree that open water in a snowy landscape is a beautiful sight, so dark and shining.

On Thursday I realized that although the scene looked the same (see below), the channel down the middle had frozen. It only looked like an open channel at first glance because there was no new snow to cover the new ice with a coating of white. Today's heavy snows will rectify that.

Pine Siskins (Amended)

As I woke from a lazy Sunday nap, Dave announced that we had pine siskins at the "sock" feeder. This is the first new bird in quite a while for my 2010 bird list (see tab at the top of the page). I may have seen them once or twice in prior years, but we have not had them at our feeders before. They are small, heavily streaked finches with yellow on the wings. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology calls them the most common of the irruptive "winter finches" that much of the U.S., including southern Minnesota, sees only in winter, but in much larger numbers some years than others.

Above, four pine siskins enjoying thistle seed. Below, a close-up of the yellow wings.

The bird is paler underneath than above, but noticeable streaky both above and below.

Addendum: Bird photographer John Briggs ("Birding in Maine" blog) recently reported a flock of more than 100 pine siskins in his yard and has video of them feeding from his wife's hands. Check it out here!

Busy Morning at the Feeder

House finches and a couple of goldfinches have been crowding the feeders in the last half hour. These are challenging conditions for photography, but I was pleased to capture this male house finch in flight.

Nature's Snow Scuptures

Our 8-10 (amended: I just read a report that we did indeed get 10+ ) inches of dry, fluffy new snow formed a surprising pattern near a privacy fence at one end of our deck -- like a mini mountain range. Here are three shots, cropping closer each time. Interesting how the colors change when cropping this snowy scene really close.