Snowbird - thirds

It is hard for me not to grab a camera every time I see this sweet little leucistic dark-eyed junco in the yard.  She/he showed up 31 December and has been a regular every since.  Sometimes I don't see it for several days which always leaves me wondering if it got grabbed by something...and then I see a bounce of white and know it's still here.  

We were supposed to get 1-3 inches of snow today but got more like 6.  Which meant the snowblower had to be pressed into service to clear the driveway.  That is Hubs' domain, while I shovel the pathways across the deck and patio.  I also managed to shoot 130 photos today.  A good day.  The female immature Cooper's Hawk made a run on the feeders again today - I see her almost every day now and am worried that she may not be getting enough to eat.  Hawks have a very high mortality rate in their first year, mostly due to starvation.  So as much as I don't want to see one of our yard birds become dinner, I don't want to see this beautiful creature die, either.  You can see a shot of her in Extra - will also give you a sense of how hard it was snowing.  

Hubs is heading south for a quick trip to Alabama tomorrow.  And our temps for the next several days will be well above freezing so we should see some of this snow begin to melt.  And I am reminding myself that in 2 shot months, I will be awaiting the first hummingbird...

Stay safe, be kind.  And today I am thinking just a good basic dark chocolate...

xo
Debbi