Of Snowfall and Little Birds

Sunday morning we woke up to freezing rain, falling on the remains of the couple inches of snow we got earlier. It was a slippery mess out there. Little birds were searching around for something to eat, so I started sprinkling some sunflower seeds on the deck.
By 9:00, it started snowing. I wasn't sure it was going to stick, because it was so wet out everywhere, but then the snowflakes started getting bigger and bigger, maybe around 1/2" to 3/4" round. They were so large they almost knocked over the birds when they hit.

See the snow on the birds tail? That's a sample of how big one snowflake was.

Around 10:00 the deck started turning white, and birds came in with intensity, looking for something to eat.
The cats took notice and found a front row seat to the show, eyes glued on every movement out the window. The most numerous birds were Oregon Juncos and another shade of junco.

Mr. and Mrs. House Finch came. I haven't seen them for a long time. They were skittish and hard to photograph, but amazingly I caught them together at one time.


There were white crown sparrows which were impossible to photograph because they were very alert and quick to take of at the slightest movement. These other sparrows, (not sure of which kind it is) were a little easier to photograph and seemed to be very hungry. As the snow got deeper, I sprinkled seed right by the sliding door, so that it wouldn't get covered by the snow, and the birds got braver and soon were eating right by the glass. That is how I got such close up photos, right through the glass, after I cleaned off all the finger smudges.

By bedtime we had around 8 - 9 inches of snow. Forest was just delighted!

I took this photo the next day just as the sun was getting ready to set.