Life is good.

Identified.

After reviewing CCTV footage for evidence of the unauthorized visitor, I identified it. This fox followed a path I had shovelled out then turned, bounding along my footpath to avoid walking in the deeper untouched snow. At this point it stopped to scan the area ahead before proceeding.

Unauthorised visitor.

During my workplace inspection one recent morning, I found evidence of an unauthorised visitor.

Small treasures.

Since Faye works midnights (boo hiss) starting Sunday night we decided to have a good Valentine’s Day meal today. We killed time at a thrift store before picking up our Valentines’ Day lunch and I found some small treasures. I like the Horatio Hornblower series, and have never read Sinclair Lewis. Both books appear to be first editions. ‘Breakfast in America’ has been on my ‘look for’ list for a while. Cost, all in? $2.54.

Thrift stores are great.

The Valentine’s Day meal? Really good Jamaican.

Rarely visit.

Although American Crows overwinter in the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands in my area, they rarely visit the backyard. This is the first one I have seen in the backyard in four or five years.

Profile.

Our weekend morning ritual is coffee and reading in bed; we invite Fitzi and Lucy up to share some quiet together time.

Lucy often watches out the window on these mornings. I caught her in profile.

Compressed.

For the past three weeks, temperatures have been mostly mildly below freezing to well below. The St. Clair River has largely frozen over so open water is limited. As a result, overwintering waterfowl been compressed into small spaces. I saw in this small open water area Mute Swan, Tundra Swan, Canada Goose, Redhead, Bufflehead, and possibly another species.

Cris-crossed.

A coyote cris-crossed my workplace after a recent snowfall.

Incoming!

Although the buffet was crowded there was room for one more.

Incoming!

Found it.

It has been a cold and very dry January. Open water has been a scarce resource for the songbirds that we feed. The heated bird bath failed. I bought and put out a new one, and the American Goldfinches found it within fifteen minutes.