It is such an abiding mystery to us non-biologists how the small wild creatures that populate our out-of-doors manage to sustain life throughout the long winter months of miserable cold and food privation they are subjected to. Birds can migrate, but the other small denizens of our open spaces cannot obviously do other than hunker down and depend on luck and inherited instinct and habit to carry them through the long period of weather inclemency.

Yesterday dawned with heavy rolling thunder, quite thrilling for us, but alarming to our puppies Jackie and Jillie who doubtless wondered what giant agency was disrupting their early morning sleep. Once the thunder had had its say copious, heavy rain was ushered into the morning and that remained the theme of the day, unrelenting downpour. On the positive side, it helps to wash away winter's detritus, along with the layers of ice and snow stubbornly covering the landscape, helped along by night-time temperature dips.

This morning, however, all is light and blazing sunshine. A contrast that enlivens our day, and certainly goes a long way to not only brightening the interior of this window-rich house, but warming it as well.

We experience the warmth of pleasure looking out the front door to see what guests the new day has brought. For the past week we've seen flocks of migrating redpolls, tiny birds with red caps and striped grey-black wings nestling in the trees opposite the porch and taking their turns at the seed from the feeders. Goldfinches too have appeared in abundance, as well as chickadees and nuthatches and juncos. They have been challenging the squirrels at the large feeder, more capacious and able to accommodate dozens at a time, while single ones and pairs perch further aloft at the two bird feeders.

The redpolls are busy in their reverse migration. Having spent the winter months just south of us, they're now returning north of us to nest and spend the spring and summer in their traditional grounds around Hudson Bay.

The sight of the elusive little chipmunk, or chipmunks as the case may be, since we can never be certain, seeing it/they at the front and at the back of the house, charms us. Its tiny size and busy occupation stuffing its cheeks with seeds is quite the sight. We don't see chipmunks all that frequently although we're aware they're around constantly. So it's entertaining to see their presence in those rare instances when squirrels aren't crowding the feeding stations.