Snow Bird

We awoke to about a foot of snow this morning, and (happily) electricity.  We'd kept up with the snow removal pretty well yesterday so all that remained today was to blow the driveway and do a bit of shoveling on the patio and deck.  

While Hubs finished the onerous task of blowing the driveway, I crouched in a freshly shoveled patch of the patio and photographed birds.  The trees surrounding our property all looked quite magical with a heavy covering of snow.  And it made for some interesting photos.  This particular image has been cropped with some very minor adjustments in LR.  It can be tricky (for me) photographing things in the snow, but this photo came out exactly the way I wanted it to.  I like the simplicity of the bird and the snow covered branch.  The snow in the background gave me a perfectly white canvas.  I've posted two others on Flickr, starting HERE with a lovely female blackbird.  

In our part of the country, Dark-eyed Juncos are frequently referred to as "snow birds" in part because they are winter residents (breeding further north) and in part because when it snows, they seem to come out of nowhere.  I'd put their numbers today in the yard at 30, conservatively.  Making them a good - and easy - choice for a blip.

Hubs and I ran some errands, including a new winter coat for him, and now we are enjoying the fireplace.  Still a lot of snow on branches and powerlines, so I will keep the tub filled with water for one more night.  Just to be on the safe side.  

xo
Debbi