I am back home, where it never snows and temperatures are always (in Centigrade)between the 20s and about 32, which means small animals and birds can always hang out.  So, pre noon, I hear a knock knock and know for sure it's a woodpecker.  I rush out to see if I can spy it.  My rushing scares of a small bird who I notice only from the corner of my eye (and hence could not identify).  In a tree across from where I stand, I see first one and then a second tree pie, in their sandalwood and white plumage.  An oh-so elegant racket-tailed drongo sits lower down, his feathers glossy black that it's almost midnight blue--much glossier than I remember--his beautiful tail quivering.  Ah the bird life.  It's nice to be back.

Last day, winter 2014 here.

Today is the last day of our stay here in Chicagoland this winter.  Luckily it's been a great day weather wise, much warmer (actually a few degrees above 0C after a long while of below 0!!) and so I went for a last walk around the lake.  I was hoping to feed the ducks.  But the path was too scarily icy for me to venture near where the ducks are usually to be found.  The snow has melted a bit and the lake looks patchy with ice......

You can see geese/duck footprints on the ice--just about.  Skating is forbidden on the lake, possibly because ice would be very thin.
I will miss the lake and the pretty area around it where my son lives.

A wintry phonophoto.

Frost on the window.  The delicate laciness fascinates me!

The snow in the Chicago area, particularly near my son's place, has been quite heavy.  But I was still able to spot a cardinal--what a glow it leaves, that deep red against the snow--and hear an owl hoot, just like I had read in books--tu whit towoo oo.  The owls back home have a different sort of hoot I think.
in spite of heavy snow, the squirrel is usually out and about.  he eats from the bird feeder of a nearby house and probably has a stash stocked away too.  I saw wild geese honking overheard too.  They stay on the lake near the house. But alas there are no photographs.