Valentine's Day- Feed the Birds at Mendon Ponds

After heart-shaped pancakes, and a morning of some chores (girls at home, Travis at work), we headed to a nature preserve called Mendon Ponds. This place is famous for its birdlife- and especially that in the winter you can feed chickadees and other birds right from your hand!

The weather was freezing (22-degrees Farenheit), so be bundled up. I love how bright our jackets are in the snowy landscape. It wasn't snowing when we started out on the trail, but it quickly started and soon turned heavy. We ran into lots of people, it being a Saturday, but it was still amazing ho quiet and hushed everything was with the snowfall. And, how you could hear the little birds.

One of the most amazing parts was feeding the little birds. You had to stand still for about 5 minutes, holding out your hand without moving. Then you would hear a flutter of wings, and a flapping of more, and this little bird would land for a second on your fingers- you'd feel the grip of its tiny talons on your fingers, a slight pressure as it grabbed the seed, and then a push as the bird fluttered off.

Megan and Zoë as we started out on the trek.
Zoë got cold rather quickly (or was it boredom?) while Megan, despite not having snow pants on!, stuck it out to the end and was the last to leave.

Miranda- running before, falling (literally!) behind, probably trekked more than the rest of us.

I'm keeping pace with Zoë, so we aren't in the picture. Miranda is in front (you can almost see the red of her jacket), while Travis holds Megan's and Nica's hands.

See all that snowfall? And Miranda floundering in the snow? Zoë sitting in the snow between Nica and Megan? Travis carried the "Black Oil Sunflower Seed" that we used to lure in the birds.

Chickadee! It is hard to snap a picture with one hand in a snowstorm, holding perfectly still, and get that fast-flying bird in focus! I probably needed to adjust the settings, but I was glad I got any shot at all.

Zoë waiting and waiting and waiting...

Megan and Nica waiting and waiting and waiting...

Miranda and Travis waiting and.... oh, Miranda moved on...

and waiting...

Success!

Nica had some land on her head, but they flew off so quickly I couldn't get a shot.
Megan held so still that she had lots of little birds eating from her hand.

Zoë got some birds to land briefly on her head, too.

Travis, who walked away from all the movement and noise and stood under some trees had birds land on his head and his hand.

Miranda had a hard time holding still, but whens he calmed down enough, she did get a few to come and eat from her hand. It took a LOT of encouragement to keep her still!

She was so proud!

See that puffed-up cardinal!? They weren't brave enough to eat from your hand, but they were more than happy to wait for the people to move away and then they would swoop down to peck at the pieces left behind.

Megan waiting, Travis watching, Nica experimenting with binoculars, Miranda eating snow and Zoë already gone back to the van. Yep, this captures their personalities!

I love their expressions.

Look at this Sunshine face! Miranda is so happy and exuberant!

And, no trip outside wearing snow pants is complete for a five-year-old unless you have made a Snow Angel in the perfect clear patch of snow.

We really had a great Valentine's Day weekend. I got to spend two days with the people who are dearest to my heart. Sunday, due to wind chills, church was cancelled, so we spent the day as a family making oatmeal raisin cookies and playing games- a card game called Legretto that all 6 of us coudl play together, and video games on the Wii (Just Dance, Smash Brothers). Although I think a beach would be preferable, the snowy and sunny-snowy days were still beautiful and appreciated, and the time we had together in the snow and woods, feeding birds, at home eating good food and playing games brought warmth to my heart and peace.