Table for two, with a view, please

A couple of new critters showed up at the feeders today. Two choices, they are either spruce grouse or willow ptarmigan. Because ptarmigan are supposed to be white in winter, and because in the book these look slightly more like spruce grouse, that is my semi-educated guess. Still have never seen either kind around here before and these look so much fatter than the spruce hens I see around the East Pole. Later when I filled the feeders I spread a little extra on the ground where they were in hopes they will come back. Although I am not sure I want them to. There are some free running cats around here and these birds are not the smartest ones on the wire. It was kind of cool, while I was sneaking up on them and photographing them, I could hear the fluttering of the chickadees as they dove toward the feeder. Later when I filled the one they like most, me being around didn't even bother them. At one point there were three on the feeder while I was holding it in my hand. Besides the grouse, redpolls showed up for the first time this year today too. They come in clouds and eat way too much. Last year it got to be 15 pounds of sunflower seeds and 6 pounds of hearts every two weeks. Also learned a sad lesson today I should have learned a long time ago. Another of those phrases to live by: Don't park your car under the bird feeder. When I saw half a dozen redpolls on it I realized the mistake but I got it out of there before they had enough time to really foul it. Still maroon. Whew.

Another sighting today also: I went to see Sherlock Holmes tonight. Good movie but not the Holmes I grew up reading about. I am sure Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would say the same. As I pulled into the parking lot I saw a familiar shape only much closer than I have ever seen him before. Wide brimmed hat, long grayish beard, puffy winter coat, backpack. Pretty sure this was the solitary man. This is the town he was always heading toward when I saw him in the mornings and leaving when I saw him in the afternoons. He was talking to another man. I walked as close as I dared without drawing suspicion and I'm pretty sure it was him. Problem was, he was out of context and I realized I have never seen him close enough to recognize facial characteristics, so I can't be sure.

At any rate it was a good day to have my eyes open.