Snow Birds

We ended up getting around 7-8 inches of snow overnight with maybe an inch more this morning.  And temps are above freezing now, so it's already starting to melt.  While flakes were still falling, I popped the hide up in the snow, set up a chair inside and settled in to take some pictures.  It's been a while since I photographed birds on a snowy background so I had to fiddle with the Exposure Compensation and ended up wasting a bunch of shots getting it right.  Which is fine - all part of the fun of photography.  

Today's offering is a Dark-eyed Junco, a member of the sparrow family and a species that is found in most of the United States, although with a great deal of geographic color variation.  They are often called "snow birds" because in places like ours they show up in the fall and leave in the spring - just in time for snow.  I am putting another shot in Extra that I did some more drastic edits on - basically, the bird was shot against an unbroken background of snow and I just adjusted the whites on the snow to make it disappear.  You can still see a trace of shadow just between the junco's legs.

Jax was a little tentative with the snow this morning but soon enough he was high-stepping all over the yard.  I had to bring him in at one point because I was concerned his feet were probably getting too cold.  

We wanted Jerry Macquire last night and it was as enjoyable as I remember it being.  I loved Cuba Gooding Jr in this role.  

Dark with ginger today.

xo
Debbi