Bluebirds and a frolicking fox

Dreary and chilly weather has kept us inside and I have had only window shots of the common birds. Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Juncos have been the most numerous avian visitors:

Although I have seen only one pair of Eastern Bluebirds during the past few weeks, they frequently visited the suet. Deprived of their usual diet of insects, they craved the high energy, so readily available.

Light was often poor and my bluebird photos were soft, having been taken through the windows of our main entrance. The male foraged on the ground, appearing to pick up seeds and suet crumbs, while the female occupied the feeder:

Seemingly impatient, he looked up at the female...

...and then displaced her:

It was his mate's turn to watchfully wait:

The Red Fox stole the show early this month, first parading on the back lawn after a light snowfall on March 3:

The fox seemed to be looking for voles (short-tailed "Meadow Mice"), which were quite numerous this past summer:

I credit our granddaughter for alerting us to the presence of the fox. While I was retrieving my camera she captured a very interesting performance:

Is this play, or possibly a purposeful behavior as a way to groom its coat, remove parasites or perhaps give relief for some skin condition? Also, in deeper snow, foxes are known to tunnel under the surface-- could this be a displacement behavior in response to the unusual snow conditions? Their sharp hearing allows them to "see" the prey as they move through passages in the snow. Of course they often pounce into deep snow and land directly on the prey. So far, as winter wanes, our area has had record low snowfall and  no persistent snow cover.

The same fox (identified by the dark mark on its forehead) returned briefly on March 9, again appearing to be hunting for voles:

Something spooked the fox and it ran off:

Colorful sunrise from our patio on March 5. A nocturnal windstorm had tossed the lawn furniture about:

On March 6   the full Worm Moon set over the city of Hartford, 11 miles to the northwest:

The floor of the hardwood forest is very dry. The lake reflected a rare blue sky:

This week's header: Sunset on March 8

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Linking to:

Nature Thursday

Skywatch Friday

Weekend Reflections

Saturday's Critters

BirdD'Pot

Garden Affair

All Seasons

Image-in-ing

Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday)

Wild Bird Wednesday

My Corner of the World
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Please visit the links to all these posts to see some excellent photos on display
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