BLESS THE BEASTS AND THE CHILDREN.

Late this afternoon Carly noticed we had a large feathered friend who had taken sanctuary under the eaves of our front porch. It has been very cold and has now gotten as low as two degrees so I think a lot of the birds and outdoor animals are having a tough time of it. It could get as low as negative one tonight. We've never had a visitor like this before--at least not one we've noticed.

Megan came over after dinner and felt so bad for it she was determined to box it up and take it home for the night. As I mentioned it's a large bird--we initially thought maybe it was a falcon-- and no one except Megan thought her taking it home was a good idea. Megan has lots of allergies, let alone the worries over the types of germs or disease the bird might be carrying. We didn't know if it was sick or hurt. We couldn't see the bird's head or beak--it was keeping it tucked into it's breast so all we could see was the back and tail really. Carly and Megan worried about it all night.

Finally, Rob hooked up a construction lamp and put it out there to give the bird some warmth and I put some sunflower seeds out for it to eat. After about 20 minutes with the lamp on it, the bird moved and we could see her face and beak. It was a woodpecker! None of us thought of that. Anyway, she shifted off to a different side of the eave--staying near the warmth but not directly in the path of it. We have checked several times since and she is still there. Poor birds--we have over a foot of snow on the ground and near zero temperatures. Food, water and heat are all scarce.

I really feel for all the creatures that are out in this awful weather. We have been seeing tons of birds flying from tree to tree trying to stay warm. This is our first close-up-warm up, though! Hopefully, it turns out well. Bless the beasts and the children!