The Torlesse Range

Here it is, at the end of May, and there is no snow visible on the Torlesse Range.  Possum Jack's saying, "the third snow in May will stay" is not very useful this year.

I had to be out early to catch some detail on the mountains.  The sun is so low now that the mountains are no more than a silhouette for most of the day.

Large

Behind me when I took this photo, was a huge area of a kale-like crop for winter fodder.  There were hundreds of small birds feeding among the plants.  I didn't notice them at first.  There was no sign of them.  But suddenly a great cloud rose like a shoal of fish, whirled and flurried, and settled back down without a trace.  I couldn't identified them.  They seemed as small as goldfinches, but the twittering lacked the fluid metallic quality of goldfinches.  They had undulating flight and appeared too small for sparrows.  I tried to photograph them when they took flight, but not one shot was clear enough to identify them.  Overhead, gliding in wide circles, were three harrier hawks.

Edit:  The birds were redpolls.