2/17/07 observations

- Yesterday was 11 degrees F... early AM...about 19 degrees below normal, even for the mountain properties...This morning...27 degrees F...with intermittent snow showers...with possible accumulation for the mountains of southeast Tennessee tonight.......

- Each of the last few mornings have been blessed with more natural sightings than could be recorded....this morning, at or near the feeders, there were....

Black Capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, many, many Slate Colored Juncos, Field Sparrows, dozens of Goldfinch, Mourning Doves, White Breasted Nuthatch, Red-Bellied Woopeckers....an estimate would be near 75 birds on/near the feeders...that were observed between 6:30 and 7 AM CST this AM....

- Attached are two photos....one taken late yesterday, just prior to darkness of a young Raccoon foraging beneath the bird feeder in a Chestnut Oak just below my back deck....and the other is of two deer (there were three in all)....one at the salt in my front yard, the other thinking of such items as deer think about.....