When I went out to take this photo, to check on the birds who have arrived for Spring, my camera, clogged with wind-driven snow, froze.

It was strange. From the first I couldn’t get the birds out of my mind. Their whole world had been covered in heavy snow – there was nothing for them to eat –  and the wind was so strong it was blowing many of them across the yard and parts of the pasture. They had gathered in the bushes low to the ground and next to the studio where they had some protection, except for the gusts, which literally lifted them up and carried them up into the wind.

All day yesterday, I kept slogging out to the feeder and filling it, the birds seem desperate and ravenous, they even kept eating at the feeder and at the seeds that spilled to the ground. I knew the sheep and the donkeys would be all right, they had shelter and are hardy and strong.

The birds seemed especially vulnerable to me. I knew the feeder was close to empty, at least before the driving snow made it impossible for me to see.

By mid-afternoon the snow drifts were so high I couldn’t reach the feeders and I thought of the birds all night. This morning, I dug through the drifts to open a path while Maria dug out paths in the pasture. The feeder, I saw, was empty. The day was fairly memorable yesterday, but when I think of it, I will think of the birds, out by Maria’s studio.

I was exhilarated to get to them, but I think I will dream of them for awhile.