Junco

Today has been a day for the birds. Our walk at Spring Lake was conducted at warp speed since the temperature was in the 40's and there was a brisk and bone chilling north wind. A large flock of  "LBB's" (Little Brown Birds)* were investigating the grass, either too cold or too little to fight the wind. Only the hardiest of ducks were to be seen, bottoms-up on the lake.

We changed course and scurried back to the car before we were more than a quarter of the way around. Only Ozzie was disappointed as we got back in the car and turned on our seat warmers. Of course he doesn't have one of those….

The cold, dry air didn't do a thing for OilMan, who retired to his bed coughing like a consumptive. Since I have already taken down all the Christmas decorations, cleaned the house in anticipation of guests who probably won't be coming, and gone to the store to fill the larder, I decided to see what kind of bird shots I could get with my new camera from the living room window.

Lacking a tripod, I soon wore out my arms trying to avoid the stickers on the windows, put there to discourage the birds from flying headlong into them, hold the camera still, or for that matter, even find  the birds at high levels of magnification. Although I got very few good shots, my patience was rewarded by the close-up views of the customers at our very popular avian dining spot.

*Handbook of the Canadian Rockies, by Ben Gadd