Brrrrr (Yard bird #4)

The day broke with clear skies and single-digit temperatures.  I couldn't last more than about 15 minutes outside so the choice was pretty simple.  This is a dark-eyed junco, the slate-colored variety, and it is a common backyard bird from fall to spring.  Like many birds in the sparrow family, they prefer to feed on the ground, which made today's shot pretty easy.  The little guy was hopping across the snow, on one leg (the other tucked up in his soft down) and he made a rather perfect image against the stark background.

In the interest of full disclosure, I did fiddle with this a bit to lighten up the background and get rid of some specks of seed on the snow.  If you look closely, you'll see that he has a sunflower seed in his beak.  Like finches, they crack the seed in their beak and use their tongue to extract the "meat".  Pretty amazing, really.

Our visitors are arriving later this afternoon.  This is the woman who cared for MIL for the last few years she was in AL - she's a such a lovely woman.  Hubs will bring MIL over to our house so that when Gretel and David arrive, she will be able to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening with them in our home.  Salmon on the menu - big kudos to hubs for braving the artic temps to cedar plank the salmon on the grill.  

Thank you so very much for sending my snowy cardinal to the Pops page - confirming my own feeling that there isn't much prettier than a bright red bird on a snowy day!

Catch you later.

xo
Debbi