Small Birds in Snow

[Trojansoc]

We had a rare snowstorm this morning that cancelled schools and gave me an unexpected day off. I used a good part of it checking out the birds that fought the cold with a feeder visit. This eastern bluebird was clearly uncomfortable in the cold.



Three distinct varieties of sparrows visited the feeer. First was a regular visitor, a white-throated sparrow...but I'm far from sure abou the other two



I think this one is a field sparrow, but I'm VERY open to correction.



Finally, the one about which I am least certain (and the shot is soft, to make it even more difficult), but I've called it a Savannah Sparrow



Among the other visitors, a wood thrush, a downy woodpecker, and an American goldfinch.

[snostorm]

Hi TS,

Sparrows can be really hard -- so many of them look so close to the same.

On the Savannah Sparrow, I'll suggest Lark Bunting because of the pattern and coloring on the wings, but I'm far from sure. . . don't see 'em around here.

Nice work! My favorite is the Thrush followed by the Bluebird in the snow. It's nice to see shots of a variety of species -- Winters around here are pretty boring birdwise, but that should pick up pretty quickly now.

I'm really starting to get pumped about seeing some more birds after what seems to be a strange winter with a lot of snow and unusually highly variable temps. We've had days where the temp dropped over 50° in a couple of hours, going from light jacket weather to close to 0 in the same day.

Scott

[Trojansoc]

Thanks, snostorm. I also posted the shot over on birdforum and got an ID of a female purple finch. I never would have thought of that, but it appears to check out.

I live in the woods and have a pretty decent variety of year-round birds.....cardinals, chick-a-dees, titmice, various sparrows, and woodpeckers, along with the ever-present turkey vultures and American crows. But, I'm ready for my summer birds to return. In the last few days Eastern Phoebes have returned and I've seen a few mockingbirds and robins along the roadside.

We've had strange weather of late here, too. Saturday, I got a sunburn on the soccer field. Monday, we had a rain/sleet/snow mix. Wednesday was 75 degrees and sunny, then today back to a snowstorm (some parts of Arkansas got as much as 18 inches), although our temperature hovered right above the freezing mark in Hot Springs and little stuck.

[robar]

hey, i know the exact strom you're talking about. just from a day earlier..
there's a few of us within hailing distance.. we ought to work on a meetup.. ie: when it's not snowing.. i wonder how ishino faired..

roy

[Trojansoc]

robar wrote:

hey, i know the exact strom you're talking about. just from a day earlier..
there's a few of us within hailing distance.. we ought to work on a meetup.. ie: when it's not snowing.. i wonder how ishino faired..

roy

Sounds like a plan to me. Let's try to give some thought to somewhere we could meet that wouldn't be a killer drive for any of us and that would provide plenty of opportunities for photos.

Paul