Classic

Nuthatches are such acrobatic little birds and are the only species I'm aware of that routinely travels head-first down the trunks of trees.  They also frequently dangle from branches, as seen here.  This is a male, and he's trying to look fearsome to scare another nuthatch away.  When they really get amped up, they raise the feathers on the back of their necks, rather like a dog raising its hackles.  Very funny from a human perspective but perhaps not as funny if you another nuthatch.  

This is our most common species - the White-breasted Nuthatch.  The males have a solid black cap that extends down across the shoulders, as shown here.  The female's cap is dark gray with black on the shoulders.  A very subtle difference but easy to spot once you know what you are looking for.  I am putting a female in roughly the same pose as this male in Extra so you can see what I mean.  

I've been very productive today, in spite of sleeping late.  This is Jax's day at "camp" so I washed all his blankets/beds.  Then I washed our sheets/towels, did some cleaning, put "spray guards" on one of the litter boxes and did a few other miscellaneous chores.  Hubs and I went out for lunch and after that, I went to the hide.  By the time I went out, the sun had been replaced by a thin, high cloud cover which was absolutely perfect for photography.  We still have snow everywhere and trying to shoot in direct sunlight against snow is really, really challenging.  Much better with some overcast.  And as is usual, I lost myself in the best possible way.

Last night we watched "Morning Glory" with Harrison Ford, Diane Keaton and Rachel McAdams.  It was what I would characterize as a delightful romp.  No deeper meaning, no heartwarming story, just a fun, light movie.  

I'm reading an interesting book right now - "Everything Sad is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri.  I can't say that I love it, but I think it's a very good book. If that makes sense.  

Hubs and I shared a chocolate chip cookie at lunch today so I'd best skip the dark until tomorrow!

xo
Debbi

And I am tagging this for my yardbirds record since I have both sexes represented