Tufted Tiddlywinks and the breadcrumb fairy...

Today, AGAIN, it snowed, snowed, snowed...and it's still snowing now! It’s very pretty out there, but maybe not quite as pretty as it was 4 snows ago……. Anyway, all this snow makes for great sledding, so a few days ago I took Matty and his friend sledding at Pine Hill Lakes Park. I was hoping the breadcrumb fairy had shown up again and left crumbs under the big pine tree by the parking lot so I could photograph some of the birds. There were no breadcrumbs tucked under the tree that afternoon--but there were buns…big and fluffy, and covered with sesame seeds…and lots of them! So our local breadcrumb fairy was not a one-shot deal. Somebody was taking care of the Pine Hill Lakes birds on the sly!

20 or 30 large buns had been left under the tree for the birds.

Birds were flying in left and right to nip off small pieces of bread and pose for a photo, so I plopped down in the snow just under the boughs and sat still (thank goodness for Spyder snow pants and coats...warm and waterproof!). The birds soon became accustomed to me as a nonstop procession of titmice, juncos, cardinals, white-throated sparrows, chickadees, and even a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a very cute Carolina Wren took turns grabbing a bite to eat. In the distance I could hear screams of excitement as kids raced down the snowy slopes, but here, under the pine boughs still heavy with snow, it was very quiet and still. Now and then tiny bird sounds would drift down through the branches as feathers whisked against pine needles, knocking clumps of snow to the ground. Of course, when the Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, and the Red-bellied Woodpecker arrived it wasn't quiet. They announced themselves regularly with their wonderful songs...

This Tufted Titmouse was very friendly. He studied me for a

while before grabbing a bit of bread and flying up in the tree to eat it.

My cousin, Curg, calls these guys Tufted Tiddlywinks. (Hi, Curg!)

...for some reason that really seems to fit, so Mr. T Tiddlywinks it is!

After about 45 minutes my battery died. Grrrr…. It had only one bar of charge when I left the house, so I was lucky to get 45 minutes out of it. The last time I photographed the breadcrumb birds I filled up the card and didn't have a replacement with me. Well...Matty's school was just called off for tomorrow, so another snow day awaits us. Yeah! I bet we will go sledding again.