Foxy! (Yard Bird # 15)

One great thing about snow storms is that they tend to bring in unusual birds to the yard.  I kept scanning the flocks of sparrows and finches during yesterday's blizzard, hoping I'd spot a Fox Sparrow, but no luck.  So, imagine my surprise today when I glanced out and saw one!  You can't really mistake these sparrows for anything else because they are so much bigger than any other sparrow - and their colors are much richer, to my eye.

Anyhoo, I tried creeping outside to get a shot, but the sparrow flew off as soon as my lens came into view.  So, I decided to just crouch down and wait.  As is often the case, my patience paid off as it came back after about 10 minutes and I was able to get a nice handful of shots.  This is the 15th different yard bird I've been able to photograph so far this year. 

We woke up this morning to see the sun peeking through the trees, even as the temps were in the teens.  It was pretty impressive to see the amount of snow that came down - my best estimate is that we ended up with about 18 inches (45 cm) - hard to tell for sure because there was so much drifting.  Anyway, the driveway is cleared now as are walkways and porch.  I've cleared paths on the patio and deck so that I can refill the feeders.  We will continue to have a lot of birds around until some of the snow melts - no complaints from me.

We are managing to keep the downstairs nice and warm with our fireplace and the loaner heater from the propane company.  And, temps are due to go up a bit this week which will help.    

Three more shots from today...
eye-level white-throated sparrow
A canine visitor
A frozen landscape

I'm going to go curl up with a book now, in front of the fire.  Be safe, people.

Debbi