I thought I'd show some of the birds I could get decent images of with my long lens during an hour's stroll in the cold. (In addition to these I saw nuthatches, a swamp sparrow, a turkey vulture, and a few other sparrows that I couldn't quite identify.)

Like most of the USA, it's been cold in Alabama; down to about 10F or -11C. Which is brisk and brings some of the zest back to life. This hasn't been particularly hard on us - or our dogs - as we have a nice warm house. Still, we are complying with the TVA recommendation to lower power usage - which set new records.

It has been more than a little hard on the wildlife. Perhaps the best example is this tiny blue-headed vireo;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These birds spend their summers in Northern Canada - in the sub-artic forests and migrate to the Southern US for winter. I imagine this fellow is wondering what happened, because it is freezing down here. He'll probably be OK as will this pine warbler:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I know it looks almost the same as the vireo, but it's actually about twice as large. Vireos are tiny, it's part of their GIS.

This rufous sided towhee is cold and a bit annoyed that I took his picture: