...when they first showed up the morning of the 27th. They came back in the evening for more corn, but have been mysteriously absent so far today (Feb 28th). Perhaps trudging around in all that snow has exhausted them.

There is so much snow, this group of turkeys seem a little perplexed by it all.

The deer were having and difficult time getting around this morning.

I was actually looking out the window when this happened. The photo was taken shortly thereafter. The snow is close to 30" deep on our front deck now.

I use this table for potting plants the rest of the year.

...on the morning of Feb 27th. Before this latest event, there was no snow on the beams and railings, and the table only had about 3" left.

They couldn't find the corn that was buried beneath the snow. Frank had not put out the morning supply when they showed up.

The seemingly perpetual ice has become one with the chair beneath the overhang.

Most of the recent storm has now passed, but we are still getting flurries. And it appears that we will for the foreseeable future.

The suet will last a little while longer. I need to go refill it now (Feb 12th).

We actually had 16 here at this time, but they never, ever stand still for a group photo. Perhaps this little snippet will give you the idea.

The little male Downy is waiting his turn on the suet feeder...see the size difference? And yes...it is snowing again. The second part of the double whammy of winter storms.

He is frantically looking for corn buried beneath the snow...no wonder, the second winter storm in less than a week is approaching!

The generator ran out of gasoline about 9 AM. Frank had to get all the gas from our only functioning vehicle, a 1979 Ford truck. The transmission went on our primary vehicle on Feb 3rd. Needless to say, it isn't fixed yet. At least they had the power back on by 4 PM. In the midst of this storm, I really don't know what we would have done. (Doesn't the little sparrow look really tiny?)

After starting the generator, and catching a few more zzzz's, Frank is performing his morning ritual of feeding the deer. It's still pretty dark out there.

It was still pretty dark when he showed up, the camera wouldn't take anything but "blue" pictures. I believe it has to do with the low light and our thermal windows, notice the slow shutter speeds...and his antlers. They look identical to the tree branches!

He has a much longer bill than the Downies, and is larger in size. His size is between a Downy and a Red-Belly, which helped me to identify him. Note that the snow has almost disappeared finally.

It looks like it is talking to the corn. I can't see any teeth, at least not like the raccoons have.

He is such a poser, and one of my favorite subjects.

Sharing the suet feeder.

This guy has the fattest beard I have even seen. He and the Jake below are regularly showing up with the hens.

Initially I couldn't figure out why the icicles were pointing towards the living room...then I realized the snow blanket was sliding off of the roof which caused them to curve inward.

We finished our roof over project this past summer...just in time as it has really helped. This is what we see from out bedroom.

Our pair of Red-Bellied Woodpeckers have returned! We aren't putting out the feeders as we have in the past, but that doesn't seem to have deterred any bird activity. We decided not to encourage any overwintering this year to avoid the many window crashing incidents that have been so frequent in the past. The feeders also encourage the raccoons to destroy everything. The birds seem to enjoy the corn that the deer leave behind. There is never any corn left by the next morning...we have quite a large clean-up crew as you will see.

The next week these two started coming around. Mama was keeping watch in the trees above.

We usually don't see raccoons during the fall/winter season, and certainly not during the day. We started to put out corn for the deer at the end of September, I guess the word got around.