Snowy Backyard

Over the last few days the Portland area was hit with a lot of snow...a lot for us anyhow. Its hard to tell how many inches are in my backyard because the wind blew the light dry snow around a lot. I estimate we got 8 inches. Last night there was freezing rain which created some pretty ice and a crusty layer on the snow.

I spent time indoors taking photos through the window. Out of the 18 species I logged in the backyard today, Juncos are the predominant bird.

This Spotted Towhee was quite interested in a filbert I tossed out for the jays. After eye-ing it suspiciously, he finally flew off with one.

Today I counted more Golden-crowned Sparrows than I have any other day this winter. I noted 7 individuals at one point. They are cooperative for photos and pose nicely.

The temperatures are warming and it looks like this will all melt off soon.