February in WNY

 Hi everyone! This is The Daily Bone and I'm your persevering doggie reporter Chester L. W. Spaniel. Sorry we have not been around lately. My ghostwriter is working way too much and is getting stressed out, especially when it comes to driving home from work at night in a snow storm! 

On Feb. 15, the snow deluge began. I know it doesn't look like much, but I'm actually walking on the crusty surface that's on top of about six inches of soft snow. (I don't like walking on this kind of snow. You never know when your next step will crunch through the surface!)

The night of this snow storm, my ghostwriter had to work late. When she finally got out of work at 2am, she hoped the roads had been plowed. She inched along Route 5&20, which was not plowed at all. She continued on, thinking Route 15 would be in better shape. But it wasn't.

Then she crept along at 15-20 mph along Route 15, praying that just maybe it would get better when she crossed the County line. No such luck! At several points she wondered if she should turn around. But she didn't dare stop because she was afraid she'd never be able to get going again. 

Finally, after 40 minutes of white-knuckle driving, she turned into our neighborhood. The roads there were perfectly plowed. Seems the Town of Henrietta did their job keeping the local side-streets plowed, while the State and the Counties should be ashamed of themselves! 

Meanwhile, Sid Starling continues to have his own problems, namely his annoying relatives. At first he did the happy dance because he had the feeder all to himself. Well, that didn't last!

"Happy happy! Joy joy!"

"Hey, now what? Augh! It's cousin Gwendolyn!"

"Sod off Gwen! This is MY suet cake!"

"Oh yeah? Who made you king of the bird feeder? You'd better share or else I'll call the rest of the family to come over here and pester you!"

"Cripes! Well, I'll just move over to the suet cake on the other side of the feeder! Hey, who's this now? Aunt Sylvia?"

"Move over you whipper-snapper! Your elders get to eat first!"

 I'm glad I don't have a quarrelsome family like that! 

Speaking of family, we have a lot going on this month. Ryan's eighth birthday!

Jessy and Dan's fourth wedding anniversary!

On Valentine's Day, Oma got some flowers!

Next is Joanna's birthday.

Hooray!

So today, the snow is melting, and we saw more of Sid Starling's family antics.

Then Debbie Dove decided to pay us a surprise visit.

"Chester, you need to chase those rude starlings away!"

Um, OK. I think.

Sid Starling is Back!

Hi everyone! This is The Daily Bone, and I'm your watchful doggie reporter Chester L. W. Spaniel. 

As you can see, we've got plenty of snow. Lots of hungry birdies have been coming to our feeders, including Gordy Whitebeak and his team of juncos from Canada, Sparrows Incorporated, a cadre of cheerful chickadees, the occasional nuthatch, a cardinal pair, Debby Dove's extended family of Mournng Doves, and three big marauding crows. We even had a brief guest appearance of Mr. Cool Beans Cooper, our local Cooper's hawk, as he swooped across the yard. 

We put out some suet so we can attract that red belly woodpecker we've been seeing for the past week. Here's a not so good picture of him as he clung to the pear tree.

But look who discovered it first: Sid Starling!

"Ta-da! Yes, it is I, Sid Starling, and I claim this delectable suet cake for myself!"

Hello Sid! I see you're back from your winter activities.

"Ah, yes. I spent the past few months flying around with thousands of my compatriots in huge, gyrating flocks, looking for grain in the farmers' fields, wild grapes in the woods, and whatever we could scrounge in the dumpsters behind McDonalds. But now, I've decided to do some foraging on my own.  Hopefully when Spring comes, the wife and I will again take up residence in our old summer apartment located conveniently inside your neighbor's dryer vent, and raise several fine young offspring." 

"Hey, who's this? Oh no, it's cousin Marty the freeloader!"

"Get lost, Marty! This is my suet cake!" 

"Be gone, or I shall peck your beady little eyes out!" 

"That's right. Scram!" 

"I poop in your general direction!"

Sheesh! He sure is a surly character! I wonder what he's going to do about his other three cousins, Lucinda, George, and Carl?

Maybe I should sell tickets for that fight! Hehehehe!