Winter Feeding

We're busy filling our feeders since the arrival of arctic temperatures. The other day, I observed a flock of red-winged blackbirds and some starlings in our trees. Sure enough, I had to fill our feeder twice during the day. I also made some homemade suet because the birds loved it so much last winter. However, today I realized that the birds weren't eating it. Finally, it occurred to me that the suet holder on our new bird feeder is bigger than the slice of suet I put in. I added another piece of suet and, sure enough, the birds attacked it right away.
Last weekend, we headed to the trail in search of exercise and fresh air. However, the trail was still covered with icy snow and walking was treacherous. We therefore didn't get very far before turning around. When we stopped and looked up we observed a cardinal, a red-bellied woodpecker, a mockingbird, a chickadee, and a tufted titmouse. I have to go back with my camera when the weather is more favorable.