The Wildlife

Not sure why, but we've been having an exceptional year of wildlife watching. The days are growing longer and the sun is shining! What a difference the bright sunshine makes when I take photos of the wildlife.

Black-capped Chickadee sitting outside the bedroom window in a rhododendron.

This was a lucky shot. I had just pressed the cable release to get a shot of this Male Downy Woodpecker climbing up the tree trunk, when he took off.

A Tree Sparrow getting a snack in the frozen food section. We had to put up with some ice and freezing rain before the sun came out.

With a mouth full of suet a Male Red-bellied Woodpecker prepares to take off over top of the suet feeder.

This Dark-Eyed Junco has no idea what's coming his way. In case you are wondering, that's a Downey Woodpecker.

As we get closer and closer to spring the Male Goldfinches are beginning to take on their brighter spring colors.

We've been enjoying the antics of this opossum for the last few weeks. He was raiding the box of apples stored on the deck. Now that the apples are gone he has found other food and even uses the heated bird bath for a source of water.

A moment in the sun.

The opossum, North America's only marsupial.
This shot is a good view of the animals pacing gait, when legs on one side are moved and then the legs on the other side are moved.

If it wasn't for the snow on the ground you probably wouldn't be able to see this little guy as he roams through the woods. I'd really like to see him hanging from a tree.

Humans aren't the only ones that appreciate a sunny winter's day, even though the temperature is still in the mid-20s.

A squirrel scampers across a sassafras tree on his way to the bird feeders.

This is not a well thought out plan of attack.

Of the five species of squirrels in Pennsylvania, the red squirrel is probably the smallest. About the only thing good I ever heard said about a red squirrel was that the hair from their tails make good fly fishing lures.

A Male House Finch munches on a sunflower seed while sitting on a tree branch.

We've been enjoying regular visits from the deer this year. We've had as many as 8 visit us at one time.

Obviously the deer can hear me but they just can't see me.

With their ears acting like large antenna, there isn't much in the way of sound that escapes the ever wary white tailed deer.

Can I have a little kiss, deer?

And as we were preparing this blog entry on Wednesday evening, three of the deer visited us again and provided a nice distraction. Ain't life good!