Tag: junco

Photograph – Six on Saturday/Snow Day

On By TimelessladyIn PhotographsLeave a comment

My area of Southern New Jersey went over 700 days without accumulating snowfall. Yesterday, we had a beautiful snowstorm throughout the day. What a lovely sense of peace the quiet flakes instill into the atmosphere. Early in the morning, I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera and taking photos as I fed the birds.

Here are my choices for Six on Saturday.

  • A Junco, one of a large flock that visits my yard, seemed to wait patiently for me to scatter birdseed.
  • The Rose of Sharon pods were the perfect resting place for snowflakes. Looking closely, you can see a few of the sharp points of individual flakes.
  • The gourd birdhouse, crafted several years ago, looked lovely with a coating of snow.
  • The Japonica, colorful with new growth, wore a blanket of snowflakes.
  • English Ivy, indestructible, seemed impervious to the cold.
  • A stem of a zinnia, left in place as cover for birds, held a mound of crystal snowflakes…beautiful.

The flying pig who holds court over the sideyard couldn’t escape the snowfall. A natural monochromatic setting with the grey sky behind him and the bird bath pedestal beneath him seems a good choice for Skywatch Friday.

I love this quote from my Farmer’s Almanac Daily Calendar:

When oak trees bend with snow in January, good crops may be expected.

Farmer’s Almanac

Pheathers – The Junco

On By TimelessladyIn Pheathers2 Comments

Photograph courtesy of Acrylic Artist on Morgue File
Photograph courtesy of Acrylic Artist on Morgue File

I know winter is approaching when the Juncos arrive at my bird feeder.

Dark-eyed Juncos are neat, even flashy little sparrows that flit about forest floors of the western mountains and Canada, then flood the rest of North America for winter. They’re easy to recognize by their crisp (though extremely variable) markings and the bright white tail feathers they habitually flash in flight. One of the most abundant forest birds of North America, you’ll see juncos on woodland walks as well as in flocks at your feeders or on the ground beneath them.
~ Cornell Lab of Ornithology