To the south side of the house we have a large evergreen tree. It sits just outside my home office windows, as well as just to the left of the large picture window in our dining room. This has been a delightful source of entertainment over the years that we have been there, because it is a year-round favorite of our feathered friends.

Usually, in the winter this is a contingent of LBBs, but this season I realized that we had an additional, somewhat less usual set of tenants occupying our natural avian apartment building.

It’s not unusual to see cardinals out here - they stay in Illinois year round, and I see them both in the yard from time to time, as well as when I am out cycling in the snow. So catching the flash of red the first time or two was not a surprise. But when it kept happening I suspected that this fine gentleman had taken up residence.

And when I saw the lady of the house I was more certain.

She was a little harder to catch under the tree than he was. I’d see her there from time to time, but she was usually in a position that made a pic difficult to take, and/or she would relocate before I could get into position to capture her image.

And then a couple of weeks ago she apparently warmed up to me enough to spend a little time outside the office window:

And that pretty much cements it in my mind - they really do appear to have taken up residence. And so far they seem to be good tenants - they keep their area clean, don’t play loud music late at night...

But I am concerned that she might be hanging out with some rifraf...

When this picture was taken we were absolutely not seeing signs of spring. About a week before Punxsutawney Phil had run from his shadow, and of course we all know just how reliable the weather predictions of sizable rodents are.

...which is to say, probably about as good as those of any other weatherman...

But the point is that the robin just isn’t supposed to be here yet, right? He’s the metaphorical sign of spring - a season that was a month and a half away in a technical sense, and at least a few weeks away in a felt sense.

So I was concerned that this robin was a bad-boy, here to be a corrupting influence on our otherwise incorruptible lady. It might as well be wearing a leather jacket and engineer boots.

Apparently my perception of the behavior of robins is a bit off the mark. It turns out they do hang out in winter weather, and alter their diet to match what is available in winter weather. This article on the Cool Green Science website covers all of that and more about these red-breasted folk, and it’s a good read.

So - I guess it can stay, as long as it doesn’t cause any trouble...

I documented Rosie’s front yard excavation project a couple of weeks ago.

She has continued her efforts towards this project since, periodically appearing very intent, showing up at the back door with paws and chest full of dirt and/or mud (we’ve been going through a rainy patch of late), but with no clear evidence of a positive outcome.

And, it should be noted, that it was quite possible that she was having success at catching the critters and simply consuming them as she catches them. As I’ve noted before, the dogs are pretty effective vermin hunters, and I very much suspect that they supplement their scheduled meals with critter snacks.

So maybe, just maybe, I reasoned, she’s catching dozens of subterranean snipes, and I’m just not seeing it. Maybe - and to be honest, it salves my metaphorical wounds in relation to the craters in my landscaping.

But then, a couple of days ago, this appeared:

I’m pretty sure they’d mount it’s head on the wall, you know, if they had a wall.

Now, I had assumed that what Rosie was going after was moles - I’ve periodically seen evidence of an ongoing mole eradication program conducted by the canine crew. But this fine looking - if unfortunate - fellow appears to a ground squirrel.

Ground squirrels, like their tree-dwelling, furry-tailed cousins, are among the critters that we typically haven’t seen much of out here at the homestead. They are otherwise all over the place - driving and cycling around the countryside I frequently see them making their ill-advised mad dashes across the roadways. Just not on our property.

While we’ve seen the return of the rabbits, for better or worse, this is the only ground squirrel I can ever recall seeing on the property in our 11 years or so out here. Of course, if the current situation is representative of the type of welcome intrepid explorers can expect, I suppose we shouldn't expect an influx of new settlers.

So - Rosie appears to have been successful. But, in light of catching this single ground squirrel I couldn't help but look at the yard...

This could be the beginning point for a very short subway system…

...and ask Rosie:

Me: “Rosie, do you think maybe this is maybe a Pyrrhic victory?”

Rosie: “I’m not sure - what does ‘Pyrrhic’ mean?”

Which is clearly just her playing dumb as a distraction - every knows that herding dogs are well versed in the Greek classics.

A Little Winter Color

Success!?!