As you may have noticed, Julie Zickefoose has been doing some test posting this week. She's the official birdchick come Monday, blogging in my place while I'm on a wild woodpecker chase in Arkansas. I can't wait to read her posts when I get back home.

It's snowing now so the pigeons and squirrels are fighting over the seed I'm tossing on the ground (pictured, left). It's like watching bird and mammal rush hour. The crows are sitting in the trees outside my kitchen window huddled up and quiet...It's odd to see crows sedentary. Anthropomorphically, it looks as though they are up to no good, plotting their thug routines for warmer weather.

I'm so happy to be getting some snow in the Twin Cities before I go. We got a dusting a few days ago and it's been snowing on and off since yesterday afternoon. It's so pretty! I'll be happy to remember Minneapolis this way while in the swamp. Our temperatures now are in the teens and single digits at night and an attempt to hit 20 degrees during the day. Arkansas is in the 20s at night and low fifties during the day--ideal temps for me.

So today and tomorrow are about tying up loose ends before I go to Arkansas. Saturday is the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union Paper Session (ie - annual get together) and I want to have everything in order so I can go hang out at the session guilt free. Amber and I are going to have a table there, I'll sell some calendars and she's going to sell some of her photos. She's really taken off as a photographer in the last couple of years. For my birthday she gave me an awesome photo of a Cooper's hawk diving off its perch. Sweet. Anyone can go to the Paper Session, you don't have to be a member of the MOU.

I got a call from Bobby Harrison today, and he's going to be searching on his own down in Arkansas while I'm there. He said he would try and stop by and say "Hi". He said that he got a ghillie suit too--hopefully we'll see each other! I must make sure to have Mountain Dew and Dinty Moore Stew on hand.

I tried to get an arty photo of the crows. They're sitting on the branches and eating snow. Alas, I realized too late that the radiator next to my window is distorting the image through my scope when I try to take a picture. However, it did turn out a tad arty! I like the little pile of snow accumulating on the tops of their heads.