Hi Cliff and Joann!
Our temps have been about Minus 18, but now it has warmed up to minus 1!
I just put in a new stocktank heater right before the cold temps arrived. There's too much snow to actually go up to my inground stocktank pond, but it looks like the snow is much lower over that pond.........so hopefully, its doing its thing. I buried some of my water plants in the ground, since my pond is too small to hold all of them in the winter. I sure hope they make it! Sounds like weather is crazy in alot of places. Good luck!

Hi Catherine, Minus 18! oh boy...
I've been making suet for the birds like crazy, and have been enjoying
watching them.

In our homemade suet feeder outside our kitchen window there is a bunch of downy woodpeckers and Carolina wrens
taking turns, along with the Blue Jays...I love the Carolina wrens, as their song is so melodic in Spring and summer.

The back suet feeders have the big flickers, and red headed woodpeckers,
along with all the other birds...it's just a delight watching them.

I love the birds too.
But the sight of this in these sub-zero temps is a bit disconcerting! They started over-wintering here a couple years ago, with the mild winters.......but they're probably thinking they might have made a mistake. I'm thinking of buying some of those dried mealworms for them. I've heard they like them....even if they aren't alive.

{{gwi:182476}}

oh my, blue birds...I love them, unfortunately they are practically
extinct here on the Island due to the DDT spraying years ago.

Yes, buy the meal worms...I understand it's easy to start raising meal worms...do a Internet search to get started...this way you can feed them
all year long...Do you have nesting boxes for them? Look on youtube as well.

We feed our birds black oiled sunflower seeds and thistle for the American
goldfinches...and suet for all the birds. It's just a joy to watch them!

We had multiple Cardinal babies born in our yard this summer...They were
all over the place. I took so many movies of them, I would feed them on our
deck and they would be just a few feet away from us.
Joann

We've been well below zero for the last five days, with wind chills between -30 and -50. Crazy cold! The pump is still pumping - if we listen carefully we can hear the water flowing over the falls! Can't see it as it's encased in ice and covered by snow - hopefully the snow is providing a good layer of insulation to the pond and the fish aren't feeling any worse for the wear!

I couldn't take the wind chill factor between -30 and -50 ...
I think I would stay in and hybrinate until the spring thaw.
We warmed up to 24* and by the weekend it suppose to
be around the lower 50* range...Crazy swings.

I only remember one very cold winter about ten or twelve years ago --
the pond was frozen over for a couple of months...
we sure worried about the fish, but they survived.

It has been down to 7 at night and below freezing during the day for 3 days. Got up to mid 40's today and back down in the 20's tonight but then starting a warm up, YEAH!!!. It hasn't been this cold in Georgia in 20 years. Lots of busted pipes and dead cars in our area. My bubblers are keeping a hole in the ice on the ponds and I am looking forward to warmer weather. I can see my babies swimming around under the ice.I shopped for some garden art on line today with my Christmas money. Hurry Spring!

Our low was 8.5 with a -2.7 wind chill. I covered my 12X20 3,000 pond with a large tarp because I was afraid the pond falls would freeze and re-direct the water out of the pond. It worked really well. I only do this when it gets bitter cold.

Good luck staying warm in those temps.