We did actually get a good bit of snow over the past 48 hours, hard to say how much total because it is fluffy and considerable drifting has piled it here and swept it there. My forested lot is to the south of a large mowed area (a neglected golf course), and when it blows, I do think the trees sometimes slow the wind down and catch the leaves and snow.
On days with snow, one of the earliest chores is digging my way out to the feeders. I sweep them off, and sprinkle seed on the path for the juncos and doves, who have a strong preference for feeding on the ground.
I noticed this fall, when I was winterizing, that I was often being shadowed by a chickadee. Up on the ladder taking the screens out, moving firewood around, distributing mulch and compost, and so on, I’d hear a singular, “chit,” only to see a little black-capped observer about 7′ up in the branches nearby. When I go out to tend the feeders, what I think is this same bird still follows me around.
Thinking back to this past summer, I raised-released a lot of abandoned wild birds. I noticed some of the birds around here watching me feed the nestlings, and the wild ones also saw the rehabbed birds coming in for a treat as they were wilded-off. There were some juncos and chickadees that liked to flock with the rehab birds. I suspect the friendlier of the ones here have been watching me care for birds for some time.
This morning, a (the same?) little bird carried with it a large peanut, quite the load for a chickadee. It would find a branch above where I was shoveling, perch and peck at its peanut, and move along with me as I progressed. I was flattered to have such company. I’ll tell Sarek the Starling about it when I visit the aviary with my coffee.