Snow

I was in Richmond yesterday and didn't see anything but humans.  It was very cold.  My return was sunny and dry until close to home.  The first snow I saw on roads, not just shoulders and ditches, was after I got off the highway.  And soon I saw flakes in the air.  K said it amounted to 2" by morning and not much during the day.  The creek was white with frozen slush.  Icicles hung from the eaves. 

K did well by the birds.  They were feasting when I got in.  I think I got pictures of all the different kinds except the oriole, but the snow turned many into silhouettes.  A Carolina wren perched on the seed feeder.  Pine and orange crowned warblers argued over the barkbutter balls.  White throats found the seeds scattered where the snow was scraped away.  A very fluffy myrtle warbler also ate seeds off the pavement.  Soon bluebirds joined them.  

The usual seed eaters were joined by a downy woodpecker and a couple of brown headed nuthatches.  A very brown house finch had me thinking it was something new.  Starlings found the party.  A mockingbird was late to the barkbutter balls.  A myrtle warbler nestled down into the snow which may have been warmer than the air.  It was 24°.  A wren did something similar on the seed perch.  A goldfinch in winter drab wanted a drink but the ant moat was frozen.  Then a few red-winged blackbirds landed.