It's been awhile that I've been outside for longer than 15 minutes.  My annual bout of laryngitis has contributed to this.  The temperature has still been above normal for the end of January and I'm looking forward to the snow that is supposed to fall this weekend.  I will be very disappointed if it does not materialize.

The past couple of days have been extremely foggy overnight.  This created some beautiful hoar frost that coated the bare branches.  There were no blue skies and sunshine to enhance the scenery but it was beautiful none the less.

The birds have been busy at the feeders; emptying them daily.  The deer have been absent until this morning.  Maybe they knew that I was home today.  Seven of them came filing into the backyard.  That makes for a lot of snouts in the grain dish at one time.  It's always amusing to watch them eat.

They have a routine.  Their first stop is the grain dish.  A few stay behind to clean up what spills onto the snow and others proceed to the hanging bird feeders to raid the sunflower seeds.  The small ones that cannot reach the feeders clean up the seeds that spill onto the ground beneath them while others make their way to a tray feeder.  This was not the case today.

It was very entertaining to watch what was happening.  Spike, the cat, who lives under my shed, had just finished eating his breakfast on my deck.  He made his way to the shelf at the bottom of the tray feeder.  He was doing his morning grooming when the deer came in.  

They noticed him right away.  There was hoof stomping and tail alerts but Spike paid no attention to them.  When the deer finished visiting all their usual feeding spots, a few crept closer to the tray feeder and kept watching the cat.  None were brave enough to come all the way up to it so the birds still have a few seeds to access.