6 f here tonight, and high single digits/low double digits overnight expected for the next week. I'm going to be winding down soon, for sure, because I simply don't have enough burnable wood to keep going 24/7 for much longer.
Winding down......
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edyit
Minister of Fire
So yesterday, i got very excited thinking I saw a returning Turkey Vulture. But no, it was a lingering dark-morph Rough-Legged Hawk that hadn't gone back north yet. A superb living metaphor for the weather these days, I thought.14F outside right now, hopefully in a week or so it'll warm up, @gyrfalcon you're right across the lake from me, we probably have the same inaccurate weatherman
Truthfully, the weather people have been telling us March wasn't going to be all that much warmer. I just kept hoping they were wrong. Sadly, this time they were exactly right.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Had three black bears walk through the yard yesterday, guess there up now, my cat tried to chase them off, if a bear could laugh, I bet they were laughing
Ha ha!! My two would turn tail and run, but I had a kitten like that once who was charging a large male racoon when I ran in and grabbed her up. That time, the raccoon ran like hell, no doubt thinking he'd wandered into a lunatic asylum.
toddnic
Minister of Fire
I'm really slowing down here in western North Carolina. I had a small fire last night to bring the house up to 72 and just did it again since it is around 40 degrees outside. Sure do enjoy the season but I'm really ready for the nice days of Spring.
Warm_in_NH
Minister of Fire
Still very much winter here in NH. 10 this morning, wind is making the house creek and crack.
![[Hearth.com] Winding down......](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/156/156041-4db42c0641dde4378e384829eb24236b.jpg?hash=1am5XvBU-q "[Hearth.com] Winding down......")
This was yesterday. The big rounded mounds are the "cannon balls" of Cannon mtn in Franconia notch, where the old man once lived.
![[Hearth.com] Winding down......](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/156/156042-a63ff0921151a01dc9b547ce39e2bbb4.jpg?hash=NDv_v2_yYb "[Hearth.com] Winding down......")
This was CT last week. This raptor sat there for a half hour devouring what I believe to have been a squirrel. Maybe a "cooper's" hawk, not sure, at least he wasn't going after the chickens.
This was yesterday. The big rounded mounds are the "cannon balls" of Cannon mtn in Franconia notch, where the old man once lived.
This was CT last week. This raptor sat there for a half hour devouring what I believe to have been a squirrel. Maybe a "cooper's" hawk, not sure, at least he wasn't going after the chickens.
I fired up last night for the first time in a week or so. Was tired of burning and it has been perfect heat pump weather down here. Still good heat pump weather, but it felt nice to really warm up by the stove. I'll likely burn off and on through most of April even down here. Hopefully, can hold off on the AC until well into May.
Yeah, looks like a Cooper's. See that abundant white fluff on the lower belly just before the tail? And the slight raised crest on the back of the head? If it looks a little small, that's because it's a male. Most people don't know this, but in all raptor species, the female is bigger than the male, sometimes by a lot.
Warm_in_NH
Minister of Fire
I went out to the site of the meal a little while after I took the picture. I was inspecting the one bone that was left when I heard bird wings flutter a little. I was crouching down, as I lifted my head and looked up, there was the hawk sitting on a branch in a bare bush, eye to eye with me no more than 12 feet away! I gently talked to him as I slowly stood up and backed away (I didn't want any sort of conflict, those cold predator eyes strike fear into you) as soon as I gave him enough room, (16' away) he took off. Must've been digesting.
Very cool experience. Yeah, that thousand-yard stare is something else. I confess to having at times scattered cracked corn on the ground specifically to attract Mourning Doves and therefore Cooper's hawks. Shame on me. (Obviously, I'm a raptor nut.)
Still burning. Still cold . . . at least the high winds from yesterday and the day before have died down. We've had a bit of snow, but more of a trace to a dusting than anything serious . . . I think there is an inch to two inches in my driveway that I refuse to plow . . . waiting for the thaw. Kinda strange though . . . right about now we should be in the middle of mud season, town meetings, feline willows should be popping out, maple sap flowing and crocuses and daffodils starting to make their way up through the patches of snow . . . about the only thing we have this year is the town meetings.
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
We hit +47dF today, I had the sliding glass door open, swept off my south facing deck and got the deck furniture arranged. Had my lunch out there.
I probably will run the stove again tonight, I am down to one smallish load around bedtime, burns out before I get home from work.
I probably will run the stove again tonight, I am down to one smallish load around bedtime, burns out before I get home from work.
Hehheh ... feline willows ... guessing this is hearth.com's auto naughty word correct at work.
Oldman47
Minister of Fire
If you want mourning doves just put out a typical bird seed mix. We have well over a dozen at our feeding station every day, along with the cardinals, sparrows and chickadees we wanted to feed. We also see blue jays and squirrels show up for breakfast.
Yeah, I have loads of them where I am now, but mourning doves on the feeder are much less likely to be targeted by Cooper's Hawks, who prefer their dinner to be shuffling around on the ground. It's also nice to lure the doves away from the feeder with its more expensive seed and onto the ground for the cracked corn, they're such pigs.
I'm OK with feeding the bluejays, it's the wretched, greedy, too-smart-by-half starlings that make me nuts. Few squirrels where I am in the country, thanks partly to the coyotes, and I have very effective baffles that keep them away from the feeders themselves if they do show up. Also cats.
FYI, plain black oil sunflower seed is most desired by almost all birds. The millet and other stuff in the mixes is more attractive to house sparrows, which I do not want to encourage.
I refer to our bird feeders sometimes as Squirrel Feeders.
Between the squirrels, blue jays and turkeys bird seed doesn't last very long . . . but the reward is the chickadees, tufted titmouse, nuthatches and occasional cardinals.
If you get a pole feeder system that can be put out away from tree branches, deck railings and other things squirrels can jump from, and then add a squirrel baffle on the lower part of the pole, it'll take care of the squirrel problem. I have a pole about 8 feet tall with four "arms" with hooks at the top I hang tube and suet feeders from. It also has a platform feeder about five feet up, and underneath that is a wide tubelike thing that completely takes the squirrels out of the picture. The platform is too high for my cats to reach easily enough to get a bird, so they gave up on it after a few tries. (There are so many delicious rodentia around here to hunt and chew, they rarely even bother with birds.)
When I first put this up, I nearly laughed myself silly watching the squirrels' frustration and unsuccessful attempts to defeat it. They'd sit next to it and stare at it for a long time, trying to figure out a way over or around it. It only took a couple hours before they gave up on it completely. Even the acrobatic little red squirrels can't get around it.
Turkeys could probably get up on the platform part and cause havoc, but they can't do much with small hanging feeders if there's no platform below them.
I get an amazing variety of bird species at my feeders, including migrants just passing through and winter finches in irruption years. You might find the same if you could keep the big pigs from dominating the dinner table.
kennyp2339
Minister of Fire
Grey day and 42F this morning. Had a low fire going since 7am, it's still glowing. Feeders here are like Grand Central, lots of jays, finches, juncos, chickadees, nuthatches, towehees and a flicker that is a regular visitor. The hummingbird feeders are also very busy. We're going through a quart of syrup every few days now.
Stelcom66
Minister of Fire
That's why I have mixed emotions about the cold weather season winding down. I will definitely miss having the stove going - some nights lights out and a few candles lit listening to quiet music. I manually washed the mold off the house last year, wish I had a power washer! Even with the intense winter this season I'll welcome the next winter. I hate hot weather, but I don't like using A/C in the house. I'm much more comfortable in the house on a winter evening than a typical summer one - even when it's single digits outside thanks to the woodstove.
Sunny day in the fifties today so no burning. Still in the fifties now but a couple of hours before sunup dropping into the twenties and not out of the forties tomorrow. I am screwed. Leaving early to meet in-laws at Dulles for a long layover on their way to Venice and won't get back until till dark. This joint gonna be cold when we get home.This time tomorrow night I will be firing the crap out of the 30.
Near zero tonight, low single digits on Monday night. I'm a lifelong New Englander so winter doesn't faze me, but man, this is TOO MUCH. (cough)
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