Hungry Birds

Yesterday I spent the day inside boiling sap into maple syrup. I started the kettle about 10 a.m. and finished at 8:30 p.m.  I got about 3 cups of syrup and a very humid house.  While I worked around the house I noticed the birds in my back yard.  I had a red tailed hawk, a flicker, hairy woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers, pileated woodpeckers, goldfinches, a flock of robins, common redpolls, mourning doves,blue jays, cardinals, white breasted nuthatches, and juncos.  The juncos seemed especially antsy and hungry.  For the first time ever I saw the juncos on a bird feeder.  They clung to the side of the peanut feeder.  Snow covered the ground so the poor ground feeders had no place to look for food.  I leave my left over canary food on the deck railing and the juncos ate all of that.  I imagine they are getting ready for the long flight north to the tundra where they will mate and raise their young so they really need to bulk up now.  I enjoy watching the birds but looking out the window yesterday was agitating.  I am so tired of snow flakes falling I could scream.  I asked a winter loving, cross country skiing friend of mine what she thought of the snow.  She is sick of winter too.  Somehow that makes me feel better.