The Gathering Place

Today we had a little setback in our springtime progress, so it was too cold for bugs. Well, it was probably just warm enough for bugs, but I have already acclimated to temperatures in the 50's so it was too cold for me. Basically I just didn't want to go outside in the wind. So I took all of my pictures from inside today.

There are a lot of ways that spring makes its presence known, and one of them is the different birds that are around. A lot of people talk about the first robins of spring (though I read somewhere that they don't migrate, and I have seen them in the winter before - though I have not seen any lately), but my mother thinks of red winged blackbirds as the bird of spring. I heard red winged blackbirds in the backyard a couple of weeks ago, and today there was a flock of them at the bird feeder. There were also grackles, and I am wondering if they are springtime birds too, because I didn't see them in the winter.

Anyway, here's the crowd at the bird feeder today:

 Grackle, in a tree by the feeder.

 Red winged blackbirds.

 Always just miss the good shot...

 Right here is why there are always so many birds on the ground around the feeder...

 Messy eaters.

4 species in this shot - red winged blackbirds, grackle, sparrow, and blue jay. The sparrows and blue jays are around all winter.

The bird feeder is popular for all kinds of animals... squirrels, mice, deer... With the snow so high, I have seen deer eating right from the feeder, not just eating the seed on the ground like these are.

Here's a zoomed-in look at my favorite part of this picture:

Going along with today's theme of taking my pictures through glass, here's a picture for Arachnid Appreciation:
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... taken through plastic. It's inside the bug vacuum. I have noticed that spiders will often pull their legs in like they are trying to look smaller when they feel threatened, but if they asked my opinion I would tell them they look much more intimidating with their legs extended. Definitely the case with this spider. I am holding onto it until morning (in the bug vacuum), because it seems cruel to send it outside on such a cold night.