Nestling

 We don't use the front door very much these days, because when we go our for our walks we go out the back door, and we don't really go much of anywhere else. But the front porch the last few months has been frequented by another creature that probably appreciates the fact that we are hardly ever there:

Possibly a carolina wren, this bird likes to spend the cold nights in and around the robins' nest on the grapevine wreath on the wall of the porch. It used to huddle under the nest, or nestle in between the wreath and the wall. The last few times I have seen it it has been sitting in the nest or on the edge of it. I forgot to go out and get the mail today, so I went out during the late evening to get it, and happened to see this little face watching me over the edge of the nest.

It snowed a little bit today, and I went for my woods walk just as it was beginning to stick. Out of habit I did look for bugs, specifically, I looked on beech tree trunks for stoneflies, and didn't see any there. Then as I was walking, I happened to see something land on a snow-covered rock. Backyard Bug of the Day:

I think it's a midge. What it was doing flying around on a snowy day like today I don't know.