Dark-eyed Juncos come south for the winter but even today’s -25C (-38C windchill) barely seems to ruffle their feathers. Very tough little birds.
This bird visited a couple of years ago but on a day very like this has been with continuous snow and falling temperatures. Hardy little souls they seem to manage very well in this weather.
When it’s -10C and there’s a huge 24 hour snowstorm due to arrive in a couple of hours what’s a tiny Chickadee to do, but stand on a nice warm stone in a nice warm water bath with nice warm steam rising, ruffle your feathers and make the most of the free sauna.
The garden was visited briefly this morning by the neighbourhood Cooper’s hawk, undoubtedly on the lookout for a meal at our feeders. He stayed just long enough to get a couple of photographs and then departed, still hungry.
I took this photograph a year ago this day and had forgotten about it. I know Starlings are unpopular in some quarters as alien interlopers not native to this continent but they are incontrovertibly very handsome, especially at this time of the year when they have a brand new suit of feathery clothes to wear. I like the way he is looking at the camera … “Who do you think you’re looking at, mate?”
I was amused by this Cardinal, looking longingly at the seed(s) that the squirrel was eating … a bit of fraternal competition there.
This photograph marks the return to life of my photo-specific website. I hope you enjoy whatever follows … meanwhile, the sun is shining over the garden
This is a full colour photograph – it’s just that the colour present really was minimal. :)
Enjoy the tiny sun-sparkles in the snow. It was very cold, very.
Sparking sunlight glancing off ice-coated branches
Times can be tough for a small bird in need of a snack when it gets really cold. The icicles are filtering the morning sunrise (golden hour)
