My favorite day of the year has come and gone. I love the surprises, the classic traditions, and being able to offer a little hospitality to some old friends.
Yeah, Christmas was great, too, but I’m talking about the first snow storm of the year.
I had prepared in advance for the snow by making sure all of the feeders were filled to capacity. At certain times of the year I can get a little lax about checking the status of the feeders, but not when snow is coming. I make sure they’re filled to the brim. I know the birds will come — lots of birds.
Many birds rely mainly on seeds from weeds and flowers, or fruit that has survived the fall migration, for their winter sustenance. Our feeders are merely a supplement to that natural diet. But when it snows, much of that natural fare is covered and not accessible, so the birds rely more heavily on our feeders.
When I checked the feeders in advance of our storm, I discovered that there was still plenty of seed left. The traffic at the feeders on the weeks leading up to the storm, however, was very light. An occasional titmouse or chickadee on the feeder, and a few mourning doves on the ground beneath the feeder, and that’s about it.
The day after the storm was different. That day more than a dozen types of birds paid a visit and many of the species stayed around all day. I hadn’t had a dozen species in my yard over the last three weeks combined.
As a bonus to the visits, the landscape surrounding the feeder is transformed into a winter wonderland. Predictable bird behavior and snow to enhance to scene ... it’s an amateur nature photographer’s dream.
I hang out for hours by the windows photographing the birds as they visit. I play games and wrestle with my boys near the glass French doors with a view to the backyard so I don’t miss anything. I love those days.
None of the photographs come out perfectly because of the miserable light conditions, but that’s OK. I’m doing it for fun and I’m having a blast.
The white-throated sparrows hung out all day. They never left. It was rare too look out and not see a junco and mourning dove. Nuthatches, titmice and chickadees came and went with frequent predictability, while cardinals visited with regularity as well. From time to time a blue jay or two popped in, but they seemed to have a little trouble with the weighted perch designed to discourage squirrels. That’s OK, though, the jays just hopped to the ground to find their take.
For some reason or another I’ve allowed myself to run out of suet cakes, but downy, hairy and red-bellied woodpeckers visited the seed feeders on occasion. I hadn’t seen the woodpeckers since the last morsel of that last suet cake was eaten, and now suddenly three varieties visited. Had I had a few suet cakes to offer, perhaps I could have had five or six woodpecker varieties show up.
Nothing too out of the ordinary showed up, but I was mildly, but pleasantly, surprised when a Carolina wren and a few goldfinches arrived. The wren grabbed a few seeds from the feeder and then nervously scoured the snow-covered deck for other morsels.
House sparrows and house finches showed up as well, but stayed for only a short while. I didn’t spend a lot of time outside, but did notice red-tailed hawks, crows and herring gulls overhead when I did step out. Not a bad day, considering I had hardly left the living room.
I had gone weeks without seeing more than two types of bird in my yard on any given day and the snow brought more than a dozen on one day. No wonder the first snowfall of the year is my favorite day. I hate to say it, but I’m looking forward to the next snow.

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