Plenty Cold

Great Snakes! It was a heck of a cold morning for Piedmont, North Carolina. At 20F air temperature and 0F wind chill, it is pretty nasty for what we're used to. In fact we only average eight such days a winter since I moved here twenty years ago, and in most years it doesn't ever get this low. The birds seem to take conditions in stride. They feed much as they always do. But I know their little tricks for staying out of the worst of it. They puff up to trap air below their feathers. They perch in thick vegetation to escape dessicating wind. And they feed, feed, feed. I'm fairly certain they're weathering this just fine. But just in case, I keep the feeders topped off, the bird baths full, and a brush pile or two in a good location. And now...I'll stay out of this myself!