Early this morning before I had a chance to clean the snow off the 
platform feeders, the usual goldfinchs were at the thistle feeder.  Then 
around 10 redwinged blackbirds came in and took over the action.  They 
pecked at the small holes and were getting some thistle seeds, but they 
only kept at it for a couple of minutes before they left.  I guess the 
return was not worth the effort.

I had started typing this email around 8:30 this morning and then I lost 
power.  The power did not come back on until 6:45 this evening.  It was 
starting to get just a wee bit chilly in the house.  Funny how you really 
miss the simple things when the power goes out ... like flushing a 
toilet.  (We country folk with wells and a septic system are a bit 
handicapped without power.)

Jim Wilson
Queenstown