Just a Bit of Snow . . .

And the birds flock to my feeder.

Obviously, the snow is covering their other sources of food.

Again, I’m shooting through the blinds of my back window with a zoom lens, so that lets me get good close-ups.

Here’s a female house finch.

House Finch

They really do have an odd shape about them.

Next up is a Carolina Chickadee.

Carolina Chickadee

You know, I’d always thought these were black-capped Chickadees, which is what you’ll see around Chicago. But one of the great things about the organized Metropark hikes is the high level of expertise of all the other hikers. On the last Adventure Hike there was a feeder and I said something, and another hiker clued me in that black-capped Chickadees are farther north, and the Carolina Chickadees are the more southern variety, with a bit of overlap here in Ohio.

“You Talkin’ to Me?”

So I had to get out my bird book to check. The Carolina Chickadee has slightly grayer feathers, so I’m pretty sure that’s what I have here.

I also got a bunch of Juncos.

One Junco

And two together.

Two Juncos

And I must have startled some bird which you can see in the back.

One-And-A-Half

The cardinals were really jumpy. Whenever I put my lens through the slats, they took off. This one is farther away.

Cardinal

I also had to shoot that one through a window, which is why the photo isn’t quite as clear.

In the Tulip Tree

This is a clearer one, even farther away. The cardinal is in my tulip tree (or yellow poplar).

And finally, a tail-feather pose.

Does This Snow Make My Tail-Feathers Look Fat?