A painted chicken at my wife's uncle's house.

A walkway along the edge of the ocean on the island of Madeira, the first picture shows the scale as a couple narrowly avoid the spray from a medium sized wave. the second picture show one of the largest waves during the 5 minutes our tour spent there. I wonder why the tour driver didn't want us to try to walk the walkway.

We're on the periphery of the storm and aren't expecting much snow, although it looks fairly serious at the moment--and the wind keeps blowing it onto my porch. Moni, I'm glad you explained. Loved the manatees I used to see in Florida. Poor things, often cut by boat propellers. I hope something has been done to eliminate or minimize that. A resting deer this morning.

I was surprised earlier in the week to see that Bewick's Wrens had nested in our birch birdhouse. They were very secretive, and I only chanced upon the two parents and the begging young once, and have yet to see or hear them there again even though the house is in plain view. They must have begun nesting around the end of last year--which is surprisingly early. They don't usually begin nesting until February-March.