I rarely post photos of juncos so I figured it’s time to make amends.
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mar11/5/19k II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I found this one at the base of the Promontory mountains three months ago today. Unlike its skulking companions this bird came out into the open on an elevated perch and posed for a few moments.
I like the clean look at the junco, the complementary colors of bird and background and the coquettish head turn. The wispy bit of fluff in the bill may or may not appeal to some viewers. I wish I had enough depth of field to get the entire twig sharp but I don’t think it’s a big deal.
Our skies cleared out nicely after the snow dump the day before so yesterday I headed into the mountains to look for birds. That was a mistake. Other than a few far away Bald Eagles I barely saw a feather all morning. I was bird-skunked so completely I didn’t even fire my shutter. Not a single time and I think I know why.
Apparently -11° F. was just too damned cold for birds to come out and play. I don’t blame them, that was the coldest temperature I’ve seen all winter.
Ron
Enjoyed the stories as much as the bird photo.
I love our Junco…slate blackon top, pink bills and white bellies…they are winter birds here…your little lady bird is beautiful.
Thanks, Patty. She sure is.
Very cool shot — I like the little bit of fluff because it tells a story. 🙂
Hope you and the critters get to enjoy some slightly warmer temps soon.
Thanks Marty, Me too. Not looking good right now.
A very “come hither” pose, indeed. The pink bill is a real highlight.
Again, I’m in awe that little birds can survive that kind of weather. I think they have a secret that science will never decipher. We had snow for several hours yesterday and the dozens of Juncos seemed more active and depleted the feeders more than I can remember (with help from Gold and House Finches, Bushtits, Flickers, Chickadees, Downy Woodpeckers, etc.) Of course, it was a warm 33º, so they weren’t at all “sticky”, as you say.
I envy you all your birds. Lyle. I filled my feeders at the beginning of this cold weather spell but about all I’ve seen at them is a few house finches and a single Red-winged Blackbird.
Juncos are exotica to me. And I am always glad to see ANY bird which graces your view finder. I love those subtle browns and the almost flirtacious pose.
On the outdoor piddling front, decades later I still wince remembering the time I squatted over a scotch thistle in the dark. Its fine hairs broke off where they were least welcome.
I am sorry that the clouds have descended again for you. And really, really hope that the predicted rain filled ones hit us in the next few days. I am not going to hold my breath though – blue is not my colour.
“I still wince remembering the time I squatted over a scotch thistle in the dark”
Ouch! Knowing how many deadly snakes and spiders you have in Australia I’d say you were living dangerously.
My high school girlfriend did the same thing with a prickly pear cactus in the dark. She spent the next morning draped over her girlfriend’s lap while she picked thousands of tiny spines out of her bare butt with tweezers.
On a mountain backpacking trip, one of my group sat down to rest a fallen tree full of porcupine quills…my trusty Swiss Army knife,fortunately, has tweezers….My husband once made the grievous error of peeing on an electric fence…guess what happened!
OWOWOWOWOW!!!!! For both situations. Fortunately, I have yet to have something fight back while I’m “taking care of business.” I did manage to get wave-tossed onto some fire coral while snorkeling during our honeymoon, however, and was wearing only a bathing suit.
I appreciate these little guys. They were the first species I ever identified using a birding book so they are special to me in that way.
Those field guides come in handy, don’t they. Not sure what I’d do without my Sibley.
I was about ten when my birding uncle handed me one of his. I think I was driving him bonkers telling him about al the birds I’d seen. 🙂
Pretty little bird……. 🙂 They mostly “get lost” in the other birds here in the summer – glad you gave this one it’s time in the spot light! Windy last night and snow & blow coming – at least of us. Appears GF is in an “island” it’s going to miss as is often the case here – we’re in an “arid pocket”. That is too damn cold to be out flitting about! 😉
“That is too damn cold to be out flitting about!”
Agreed, Judy. Having to pee was an… adventure. 🙂
Laughing at that for sure! Easier for you guys than us gals! Had to sit still with my bare butt over the edge of a duck boat once MANY years ago because there was “incoming”……… 😉 After the Endrin (sp?) thing I quit – wasn’t going to kill what I wasn’t going to eat…… 🙁
“Had to sit still with my bare butt over the edge of a duck boat once”
Boy did that bring back memories – something about my young wife (at the time, she’s my ex now) doing the same thing on a boat on Lake Blaine after too much, way too much, Canadian whiskey. I thought she was going to fall in. She didn’t but she was hung over for two days after. We’re still good friends but I don’t think she appreciates it whenever I bring it up.
That and the comments under EC’s post are “half” funny now but they sure weren’t at the time! 😉 We humans aren’t too bright when it comes to “roughing it”……. 🙂
Nothing wrong with having to find something from your treasure chest.
I like his beak bling❗️
I didn’t a double take on that -11… no wonder everybirdie was hunkered down. Burrrr 🥶
Hope you have luck today.
Thanks, Diana. I’m afraid luck with birds isn’t a possibility today. Once again we’re socked in with clouds.
Love Juncos and love this simply beautiful photo! Thanks.
Thank you, Joanne.
I’m “with” Everett’s comment—these are days of increasingly impoverished public speech, and I truly enjoy your turns of expression in describing all you see and do–
I think you write well, and add interest, color, and humor to your beautiful photo work–worth viewing AND reading every morning– thanks !
I appreciate your comment very much, Kris. I work hard at my writing but it never comes easy or natural for me.
What a beautiful little junco. It is so different from the junco that we see in the eastern part of the country where we have the slate-colored dark-eyed junco. And what are you doing skulking around in -11 temps!!! Too cold for bird or man. Take care, stay warm and hope your area has an early spring so you can go birding in comfort soon.
Melanie, that was one of the coldest temps I’ve seen in Utah for years. The only colder morning I remember seeing was -22° a couple of years ago along the Bear River near Corinne.
Ron, I went to visit a friend in Duluth a couple winters back to see Great Gray Owls. The first morning we were out, the temp on the car thermometer dropped to -22, which was the coldest I’d ever experienced. Later, he let me know that he had learned that his car thermometer bottoms out at -22, and that based on the temps reported in nearby towns that day, we were probably out in weather more like -30F. Your mention of -22 made me wonder if your truck thermometer might have similar temp limits!
I don’t know but I doubt it, Brian. I know that Montana farmers wouldn’t even buy a pickup that wasn’t accurate down to the extreme temps they often see. Ford wouldn’t want to lose their business.
Interesting Ron, I took photos yesterday of Red-backed Dark Eyed Juncos at our Lynx Lake. It was a very cold morning still in the 20’s, but nowhere nearly as cold as your temps. Both our nesting eagles there were in the nest with just the tops of their heads showing. Most likely shielding either the eggs or chicks from the cold. I saw a USFS helicopter fly over and around checking the nest so I should know later today what the status is. Love your colorful vocabulary this morning – skulking, coquettish, wispy, and bird-skunked. Might lead some readers to think you were an English language or English lit teacher instead of a Biology and Science teacher. 🙂
“Might lead some readers to think you were an English language or English lit teacher instead of a Biology and Science teacher”
Ha, I have friends who are/were English teachers. They ought to get a big laugh out of that! There are times I’m sure they thought I was hopeless in the language arts department.
Interesting to know the FS keeps track of your eagles so closely they use choppers to monitor them.