Teka, my sister just texted me yesterday saying they got 11 in too. They are thee hours downstate from me in IL. We didn't get the second big storm as predicted but they did. I think we got over 7 inches. Nice pictures. I can see the glistening. There is something very peaceful walking in the dark in the snow. It is quiet and beautiful and COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I slogged out to my backyard today as the heated birdbath doesn't last long in the cold. A couple weeks ago I had a big flock of robins all fighting to get to my birdbath. I have never seen that before even though people say there are wintering robins hear I have never seen them until this year if that is what they were. It was too early for them to be migrating back for spring.

Stay safe and keep warm.

Love,

Nancy

GB, yes I have fed the birds for many years. I used to have quite a few different feeders but as my trees got older and branches fell off I don't have as many as I used to. I am down to just two. I have a safflower feeder and a niger thistle feeder. I get a pretty good variety of birds but I have never seen any bluebirds. So your bluebird family would be something special. They are so beautiful. I have a hummingbird feeder in the warm months and I really enjoy those too. Yes, it is a wonderful and fun hobby. I consider myself a backyard birder and I am into bird photography but I am no where near the level of birders who keep track of all of there sightings. I also have a lot of squirrels and I finally have a system that the squirrels have not been able to hog my bird feeders. There is plenty of food that ends up on the ground that they can eat. They do enjoy drinking out of my birdbath. I'm glad to hear you are enjoying your feeder. It is a very relaxing and fun hobby. Is this your first feeder?

Carol, waving back at you and everyone.

Love,

Nancy

Chris, praying for your surgery tomorrow. I sure hope this goes smoothly without any unexpected obstacles this time. If I am remembering correctly weren't you supposed to see your pulmonologist on Feb. 9? If so did you have to move that apt. I think it is usual for you to have to go back the day after eye surgery. I just hope all of these things will fall into place for you. I have been praying for the Lord to give you comfort during this time.

GB, now I get it why you have bluebirds. Having a bluebird house is the reason. I was looking up bluebird feeders and I didn't realize they eat mealworms. My sister downstate would have Titmice but I have never seen them at my feeder. They are so cute. I don't see Carolina wrens either. We have a lot of Juncos which we call snowbirds. I have common house finches (they are red), goldfinches which in the summer the males are bright yellow and fade to a light green in the winter. I have nuthatches for the first time this year and our usual variety of mourning doves, cardinals, chickadees, finches, woodpeckers. I had a flock of robins a couple of weeks ago all trying to get to my heated birdbath. That was very unusual for January. My parents loved feeding the birds so it has been a long history of watching them and I love it. You will have to get yourself some nice binoculars and start venturing out and having a blast trying to identify what you hear. Going out in nature is such a therapy for me and I bet it would be for you too.

Take care everyone and have a great week.

Love,

Nancy

Titmice are very fast--they are easy to miss at the feeder. We joke that they like fast food. They swoop in and you'd miss them unless you look for the peach patch on their midsection as it flies by in a blur. Ours quickly grab nuts and fly up into a tree to eat. The chickadees also eat in the trees...we have a tree I named "chickadee tree." I do need better binoculars. I have a set but I can't get it where I can see in focus with both eyes open. They are probably 30 years old, so there's that.

I could talk about the birdies all day. I'm in the parking lot at oncology waiting to go in. I got here too early, wasn't sure of traffic coming from work. Today is my first zoladex, discussing the osteoporosis I appear to have, and really really hoping she's ok with how surgery only took out one more node. Sigh. God can work it all out, somehow and someday.

Ugh, I'd better go in. It's pouring rain too. I hope my bandaged toe doesn't get wet...

Ok, here’s my bird contribution. I can rattle off bird names alphabetically from A to J. Why? Because I live on Falcon Street.

Here’s my list: Albatross, Brant, Curlew, Dove, Eagle, Falcon, Goldfinch, Hawk, Ibis. Jackdaw.

I don’t know why it stops at “J”. There’s also a series of tree street starting with Ash. I think they stop with Nutmeg.

😁

Nancy, I know, right? I never knew some of those were bird names, either.

gb, good to hear from you. Have you had Zometa before? I can offer you a few tips if you'd like. I get it monthly and although the first one or two were a little rough, they're now sort of a non-event.

I'm glad your surgical report was "clear" and that the Zoladex was at least "OK."

gb, I get Zometa every three months. It is not a tough drug. It is an IV drip that typically takes 15 minutes but they usually run some saline first. If they will do it ask for a longer time to drip as it helps lessen the minor aches you sometimes have the next day. Also take some Claritan the day before and the day of the infusion if you can. This helps too. Most of the time the next day I never notice I had it done.

Good morning. I can't see much through this bubble wrap glasses but the aurgery went well. Should know more this afternoon. I also got cleared to fly without extra oxygen so yank you all for your prayers.. I will phone talk with my oncologist.in Friday to get her recommendations on my next steps for treatment as my progression is more than we had hoped. So this is good news and bad news. We fly to Colorado Saturday and I will seek a new oncology team immediately. I appreciate prayers nd trust Go's will lead me to the best

. Thank you all for sticking with me through this. May God shower your day with many blessings.

I am praising God. The pulmonologist took me off all Prednisone (steroids) today and told me the diabetes should resolve since my numbers stayed low though it is no guarantee. She also cleared me from all Oxygen and altitude restrictions. I am free to fly to Colorado on Saturday. My Cataract surgery has gone well and I can see better already.

Now I can concentrate on my next cancer treatment. I will talk with my CA oncologist tomorrow to get her recommendations. I spoke with my Medicare agent this morning and we are ready to find a new oncology team and get started. Now to fly to CO and get a hug from my daughter and granddaughter. It has been a long five weeks. Thank you for your prayers. At times I felt battered and exhausted, but God is teaching me to trust. He knew I needed this time to heal my lungs learn to lean on Him.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday and ........................

Teka spent a lot of her Valentine's Day lying in the recliner and soaking up the sun!

GB,

I wish you a calm and okay dentist visit tomorrow!

Nancy,

Congrats, you made it to the last week of the Detox. You're going to be weeks trying different foods. Interesting!

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Teka is our spayed 12 year old maine coon cat.

Daughter chose the name "Teka" which means "angel of death" before I was Dx with BC.

She's more on the small side but dwarfs other cats.

Loves to play fetch but not a lap kitty.

But content being an indoor cat. ;o)

____________________________________________________________________________________________

I just received this email today from the Forest Preserve District that I have competed in their photography contests for several years so I am on their mailing list. GB and others might be interested in this. I know it is last minute notice to take part in the Webinar tomorrow but anyone can do this.

EYES TO THE SKIES FOR THE ANNUAL GREAT BACKYARD BIRD COUNT

2/11/2022

(Photo by Anthony Schalk)

It's time once again to count the cardinals and Canada geese — and all the other birds — you see in the name of citizen science. The annual Great Backyard Bird Count is back, and bird lovers all over the world are invited to set aside some time to record bird observations over the event's four-day span from Friday, February 18, to Monday, February 21.

The Great Backyard Bird Count is a joint effort of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society and Birds Canada. The first year for the citizen science project was 1998, and it expanded to a global initiative in 2013 when organizers began entering submitted data through eBird, one of the world's largest citizen-science biodiversity initiatives. Last year, people from 190 countries participated, the National Audubon Society reports.

Participants need not be birding experts to participate, although familiarity with common birds is helpful. If you like contributing to citizen science projects like this, you're in luck, because it's the first of several held each year. Others include Global Big Day, which is held every year in May, and the Christmas Bird Count, held over a two-week period every year in December and January.

To participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count, you don't have to limit yourself to your own backyard, although you certainly can go no further than your kitchen window. Any place where you can spend at least 15 minutes over one of the four days is fair game, including backyards, preserves, parks and other natural areas.

To help get participants ready for the count, organizers are holding a free webinar from 1 to 2 p.m. Wednesday, February 16. Experts will give refreshers on bird identification and also provide counting tips.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from anywhere in the world, as long as they have at least 15 minutes to count birds over the four-day data collection period. To get started, visit the Great Backyard Bird Count website and create an account. If you've participated in the past, there's no need to create a new account. You're already registered and can use your existing account to participate.

During the collection period, spend at least 15 minutes on one of the four days counting birds, taking note of the number of individual birds of each species you see during your counting time. You can spend as much time as you want counting over the four-day period, but you should submit a different checklist for each day and each location or for the same location if you count for more than one time period each day.

The data you record can be submitted in one of several ways. New participants can use the Merlin Bird ID app. Previous participants can use the eBird app or website. The Great Backyard Bird Count website includes tutorials on how to upload data with each of the available apps and websites on its How to Participate page.

WHY IT MATTERS

Bird populations are always in flux, which makes them difficult to study. The data collected through the bird count and other citizen science birding events helps document bird movement and distribution, which is why it is so useful to scientists, the Cornell Lab reports.

RELATED: BIRDS ON THE BRINK DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Information gathered through the bird count and other citizen-scientist programs, such as eBird and Project FeederWatch, creates a real-time picture of bird populations. Scientists can use the data to help understand "big-picture" topics, such as how weather and climate change affect birds, the timing of migrations among different species, bird diversity in different types of habitats, and how diseases are affecting birds in different regions.

The information collected through the Great Backyard Bird Count becomes more useful to scientists the longer it is collected, because it helps identify trends and changes over time, according to the Cornell Lab.

2021 RESULTS

The 2021 Great Backyard Bird Count was held against the backdrop of the global COVID pandemic, but despite this it was a record-setting event. More than 300,000 people from more than 190 countries submitted 379,726 checklists, according to the 2021 Great Backyard Bird Count Summary.

All told, 6,436 bird species were identified in the count. Colombia was the country with the most recorded species, at 1,167. The country with the second most species was India, with 960. More than 600 species were documented in Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico, and more than 500 species were documented in Australia, Thailand and the United States.

The country with the most checklists submitted was the United States, with more than 250,000 checklists from all 50 states. Other top contributing countries were Canada, with more than 43,000 checklists, and India, with more than 33,000.

I love the idea of this---I can't do the webinar but I think I can manage the bird count!