Yard Birds - 2019

For the last few years, I've tried to blip as many of the birds I see in my yard as possible.  In 2018, I managed to blip 55 of the 74 species I recorded in my yard.  This year, I will hope to do a little better, but much will depend on luck and timing.  But, to kick off the year, I'll start with Yardbird # 1, the Dark-eyed Junco, Junco Hyemalis.

Dark-eyed juncos can be found across North America as far north as Alaska and even into northern Mexico.  And within the species, over a dozen recognized color variation exist.  At one time, there were 5 separate species of dark-eyed junco, but they were combined into one species in the 1980's.  I personally think they should seperate the major color variants, especially since they are geographic in distribution - but, hey, no one has asked me to weigh in!  Anyway, in  the eastern US, our Dark-eyed Junco is the Slate-colored variant, which is the plainest of all the juncos.  Still, they are very pretty in their way.

I removed one distracting branch from the lower corner of this photo, gave it a little crop and adjusted the shadows.  Other than that, nothing needed.  The bokeh provided by the cover of foliage under the trees as the edge of our woods.  

Trip to the gym this afternoon, and dinner with friends tonight. No snow in our forecast, which is fine with me.  But my parents, who are currently in Tucson, Arizona, had about 3 inches of snow on their car this morning - making them very unhappy snowbirds!  Hope it warms up there before I fly out on the 14th.

Happy hump day!

xo
Debbi