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<\/p>\nI don’t have many “Christmassy” images but for me this one certainly showcases the season.<\/p>\n
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1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS\u00a0USM + EF 1.4 II Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I found this Song Sparrow on a January morning\u00a0several years ago on the coldest day so far that winter. The entire refuge (Farmington)\u00a0was covered in thick frost \u2013 it looked like a magical\u00a0frosty fairyland\u00a0all the way to the horizon. I could actually hear soft tinkling as the frost fell in the warming sun.\u00a0The sparrow was puffed up to keep warm and eating ice-encased seeds it grabbed from its twiggy perch. I like the frost, the vertical position of the tail, the puffed up squatting pose, the ice crystals falling next to the tail\u00a0and the whimsical mood of the image.<\/p>\n As I type this at 4:45 AM on Christmas Morning there looks to be about 6″ of new snow that fell during the night. That’s quite a bit for us here in Utah and I look at it as an extremely welcome Christmas gift because we need the water so very much. It’s our tradition to go shooting on Christmas morning whenever possible because we so enjoy the solitude while everyone else is home opening presents. When there’s fresh snow it’s a bonus\u00a0but roads can be dicey at best\u00a0and my typical birding locations don’t plow their roads so I’ll have to see what it looks like as it starts to get light. I hope we can go…<\/p>\n I wish all my readers a spectacularly wonderful and merry Christmas! I feel a little extra sentimental towards\u00a0and appreciative of my blog followers this morning. Someday I wish we could actually meet each other and perhaps spend an hour or two jabber-jawing over a cup of coffee.<\/p>\n Oh, the stories we could tell!<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – Just measured the snow on my lawn – there’s 7+” and it’s still falling! I hope my snow blower cooperates – this’ll be the first time I’ve used it this winter.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I don’t have many “Christmassy” images but for me this one certainly showcases the season.<\/p>\n