The most important thing to keep in mind is as bad as it is for us when it is 0 and windy is that the birds that stay with us are out in it! Chickadees, kinglets, titmice, cardinals, Carolina Wrens, all tough it out. It is easy to see why the first day over 40 in February makes them all burst into song.

And while it is hard to find much variety out there right now at these elevations, a keen eye and ear can still get you some good birds and interesting sightings. Just today I had a Hairy Woodpecker fly into my office window hard, and when I looked out to see who hit it, I saw a Pileated and a Northern Flicker in the yard at the same time for a woodpecker trifecta. The Hairy recovered fine after some warm up time in a nice dry, dark cloth bag in the house and went back to pecking on a favorite dead tree.

A recent trip to my place at Meat Camp turned up a very skulky Winter Wren, four kinds of sparrows, and Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets. IN the snow on Sunday Price Lake had American Robins, American Goldfinches, kinglets, chickadees, and a few other locals. Red-winged Blackbirds, more Robins, American Woodcock, and few other very early migrants will show up as soon as the weather breaks, so keep those eyes and ears open. And remember next time it is 3 and snowing (wait that's tomorrow morning!) that mother Great Horned Owls are already sitting on eggs here in the High Country!

For more information on birds in the High Country call the Watauga Birding Hotline at 828-265-0198. Also visit www.ncaudubon.org, www.carolinabirdclub.org and visit the Audubon North Carolina blog at http://ncaudubonblog.org/blog/ and the High Country Audubon website at www.highcountryaudubon.org

It is actually a pretty good year for seeing Golden-crowned Kinglets. Photo by Aaron Simon


Winter Wrens earn their names in winters like this. Photo by Aaron Simon


My yard Screech Owl is calling most stil nights right now. Photo by Aaron Simon