Quote Originally Posted by north woods gal View Post
Lost my record, yesterday. Was shoveling off the trail and next thing I knew it was too dark to ride the trail, safely (get's dark very early, up here). Not to mention I was totally pooped out from all that shoveling, anyway. Oh, well. Kind of nutty to think I have to ride each and every day in this weather. Some real cold headed our way by the ned of the week, with single digit and sub zero stuff.

On a brighter note, we have Common Redpolls at the feeder! They're strictly a northern bird that wanders a lot in the winter. Some winters, don't see a one. Other winters, see them a lot.

Not a great pic, but shows what the Common Redpoll looks like for you folks that live south of us.
Redpoll birds are incredibly hardy: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...nter-1.4465936

"They can survive up to 20 hours without access to food, even if temperatures drop to -54 C," Keating said.
Redpolls have specially designed esophageal pouches that allow them to hold on to seeds, then later slowly digest them to provide them with energy to maintain their core at a balmy 40 C — "kinda like throwing logs on a fireplace."
"Their internal temperature can be 73 degrees warmer than the surrounding air, with the two extremes being separated by less than a half a centimetre layer of feathers."