Rosy Days

 We awoke this morning to one of the coldest days of winter so far. Quite a change from yesterday's 55 degrees!

It is always fun to see what shows up at the bird feeder this time of year. Two almost certain customers are the pair pictured in today's post.

This cottontail was not at all deterred by my presence with a camera. He gave me one good long look and seemed to declare me harmless. Funny how they know right away what is a threat and what is not.

The second photo is of a rosy finch. Sibley's lists three subspecies of these birds and it is not uncommon to see all three mixed into a flock of a hundred or more, all doing their best to clean up the seed before the rock doves move in.

The amazing thing about these birds is their range. For such a small creature they must be made of steel. The first time I ever saw one was on top of the Grand Teton almost 20 years ago. They frequent high places and we even saw a small flock on Elbert last weekend when the temperature was below zero!

Our rosies arrive when the snow gets too deep on top of the Beartooths and stay with us only until the very first hint of spring is in the air.