snow birds

Last night we got our third dose of snow in under a week. While most people around here were whining about how they were ready for spring, I was lamenting this mild winter and our lack of snow. I need at least one to two good heavy snowfalls before I'm ready for daffodils. Well, I got my wish. This past week has made up for the relatively wimpy winter with continuous sub-zero temperatures and over a foot of snow (I'm wondering at what point we need to shovel the deck so it doesn't collapse).

Dan had trouble getting his car out of the snow this morning to head to his second Saturday of the Oscar movie marathon. I went outside to see if I could help (I couldn't, but he did eventually get going), and noticed the bird bath looking so comical piled with snow.

The weather finally warmed up about 30 degrees today, bringing the temperature to just above freezing. I've been wanting to take pictures of all our pretty backyard birds against the snow backdrop this week, but I couldn't until today because A) my fingers would have frozen off, and B) the birds weren't making many appearances at those temperatures. Today, with a comparatively balmy morning in the low 30s, there was a smorgasbord at the neighbor's bird feeders. I stayed outside for a little while this morning (wearing my overall snow pants and sitting in my plastic lawn chair), and managed to snap a few photos of the birdies. (I'm guessing you'd rather see a photo of me in that getup, but that's too bad.) Here's a cute little sparrow; there were lots of these guys.

Seeing cardinals in the snow is always such a treat. They look especially plump when they're all fluffed up against the cold.

This little house finch was jealous of my attention to the cardinal and posed for quite a while. Those bits of snow on the branches are just gorgeous.

The little chickadees were too quick for my camera, but I was thrilled to catch this tufted titmouse. Once I heard his call (loud and annoying), he was hard to ignore.

Stay warm and safe. Don't get impaled by any murderous icicles. We have a few daggers hanging off the roof out back.