Foxy Yard Bird

The day started with a promise of snow and the first sighting of a red fox since last spring.  The fox took me by surprise and my camera settings were still set for the bright conditions of yesterday so the shots I got were abysmal.  

However, very soon the snow started and a couple of new winter sparrows arrived along with the snow.  This is a Fox Sparrow, the largest sparrow species to visit our yard, roughly the same size as a cardinal.  I usually see them when it snows and occasionally during fall migration - otherwise they are not a common yard bird.  Definitely worthy of a blip. I was at eye level and caught him/her in mid-hop.  As you might guess, I did some edits to this - there wasn't enough snow on the ground to give me an unbroken white background, so I did a bunch of dodging, burning, cloning and lightening.  If you held a gun to my head and asked me to recreate what I did, I would not be able to.  Sometimes, I think  my approach to photo editing is pretty scary.

A bit later, the fox made another appearance and this time I was a bit better prepared; although I still only got two shots, both through the window.  Anyhooo... the fox and five other shots (four birds and a snowy squirrel) are posted on Flickr, starting HERE.  There were four species of sparrows in the yard today - the only species missing was a song sparrow.

The high temperature today is only going to be 22F so it's a good day to stay close to home.  I was all bundled up when I went out to take photos today, and the camera was wearing a raincoat to protect it from the snow.  Even so, the cold temps definitely reduce the battery life.

I'm counting down the days until I fly to Tucson to see my parents - can't wait!  Leaving on the 18th...

Thanks for sending my blue jay to the front page of Popular - that was an unexpected surprise!  

Cheers, and have a lovely weekend.

xo
Debbi