Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Where is our snow?

I miss it. Last year at this time we had well over a foot of snow on the ground, and when I looked out our living room window, I had cute little birds like this staring back at me...

...an American Goldfinch in the snow.

...he's killing me with the head tilt! That little move ratchets up the cute-o-meter like nothing else...

Male American Goldfinches are always pretty, especially in the summer when their breeding plumage glows gold in the sun, but in the winter, when they return to their basic plumage, they fade to an olive brown with only a hint of their former glory around their eyes and neck. Suddenly, they blend with the browns and greys of dead winter and barely raise a second glance, but when snowflakes fall and they sit with a backdrop of bright white snow, they once again glow gold and demand attention!

"I'm a ball of fluff, and I can melt any heart..."



Yesterday we had three flakes of snow. It was supposed to be an inch, but it fizzled into rain. I have snow gear galore—boots, gloves, down pants and a down coat, and a panda bear hat to top it all off—but unfortunately, no where to wear it! Hurry up and get here snow...

(I took these photos 12-12-10. We had snow, snow, snow then.)

About our rain...
We've had our wettest year on record. It has rained almost every other day this year...about 72 inches of rain, which scored us another record—the wettest city in the nation's top 100 largest cities. My hubby, Rick, filled me in on the stats last week. We normally get 137 days of rain. This year, we've had 187 days. If only all the rain this month had been snow... :-)

P.S. Happy Birthday, Dad!!!
at

25 comments:

  1. grammie gDecember 28, 2011 at 9:16 AM

    Hi Kelly...The birdie's are so cute in the snow especially for the photographer...lol I don't know how the bird's feel! ; }These are lovely!!
    We have no snow either or we did have a couple of inches until last nights driving rain of 1 inch or more (That is equivalent to a foot of snow) and the wind blew so hard the house and everything possible rattled!!
    So snow ...gone, and 45 degrees...just crazy !!
    Grace

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  2. UnknownDecember 28, 2011 at 9:55 AM

    Lovely images from last year. Still waiting for the snow here too, it's been so mild the garden is well stocked but birdless at the moment.

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  3. Randy EmmittDecember 28, 2011 at 10:06 AM

    Kelly we are in Ohio and glad for no snow! The birds are cute!!

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  4. holdingmomentsDecember 28, 2011 at 10:34 AM

    What a little beauty he is.

    No snow here either Kelly.
    The worlds climate has gone mad.

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  5. MontanagirlDecember 28, 2011 at 11:48 AM

    Those are great Goldfinch photos. They're such a cute little bird. And that's just a ton of rain you've had. We haven't had much snow yet either. I think it's coming though.

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  6. Lois EvensenDecember 28, 2011 at 12:05 PM

    Oh, yes, that little guy is a cutie.

    Yesterday the rain wasn't much fun here at all. It was blowing and cold so hard to get anywhere on foot. We were out for a short time, but it would have been a good day to stay home.

    A little snow for photo ops would be nice, then it can melt before we have to drive. ;)

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  7. TexWisGirlDecember 28, 2011 at 12:10 PM

    it is maddening! you get so much rain; texas gets almost none for the same period! mother nature, please even out your moods for 2012!

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  8. RoyDecember 28, 2011 at 12:38 PM

    Lovely images Kelly.

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  9. Laure FerlitaDecember 28, 2011 at 12:49 PM

    Be careful what you wish for!!

    Love those "finchie" shots too. He's playing you, you realize that, right? He wants more seeds!!

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  10. ElaineDecember 28, 2011 at 3:13 PM

    I love these shots! We've got snow here, but no cute little goldfinches.....

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  11. SueDecember 28, 2011 at 3:30 PM

    Up here, we are down over FOUR FEET of snow so far this year. It is devastating to the local businesses that rely on the snow. We got about a 1/4 " yesterday. At least it finally covered up the brown.
    Sigh!

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  12. RoyDecember 28, 2011 at 4:23 PM

    Yeah, PA's having its wettest year on record, too. And still no snow in these parts, except for that freak storm in October. It's very depressing! But I'm making lemonade out of lemons - I went out on a shoot today and took shots of the bleak landscape and processed them as slightly sepia-ed b&w shots, almost like a Calotype. They'll be up on my blog in a little bit.

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  13. Carole M.December 28, 2011 at 4:28 PM

    cute-o-meter sounds good! These gold-finches melt my heart too and as you say with a snowy backdrop what superb photos! Look forward to your snowie pics sure to come.

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  14. eileeninmdDecember 28, 2011 at 6:36 PM

    AWWW, what a sweetie! Great photos. I wish you and your family a very Happy and healthy New Year!

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  15. Janice KDecember 28, 2011 at 8:00 PM

    We had been away from hom for 6 out of the last 8 weeks helping out one of our daughters, who has been ill. Even though I put bird food out Tuesday morning when we got home, nothing came to the feeders until finally this afternoon I saw a couple of nuthatches and titmouse, and then on the back porch there were two goldfinch. We did get snow our first day at home, and it was so beautiful to see. I guess I need to unpack the camera.

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  16. Gillian OlsonDecember 28, 2011 at 10:11 PM

    What great pictures of the goldfinch, it is indeed a ball of fluff. Great shots. Too bad about the lack of snow, raining here too!

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  17. Wanda.....December 29, 2011 at 8:20 AM

    YES! I AGREE, KELLY...WHERE IS OUR SNOW?

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  18. Kathy A. JohnsonDecember 29, 2011 at 10:26 AM

    Guess we're not the only ones having a warm winter! We finally got a decent cold front yesterday and it's out of the 80s! Your little goldfinch is a darling. Beautiful photos as usual.

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  19. GuyDecember 29, 2011 at 2:48 PM

    Hi Kelly

    You are correct that little Goldfinch is quite the fluffy heart breaker. We do have a bit of snow but in our holiday travels across two provinces we went from areas that had much less then normal to areas that had none.

    Happy New Year
    Guy

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  20. Tammie LeeDecember 30, 2011 at 1:17 AM

    we also do not have the snow we usually have. it has been over 40F lately and the little snow we have is almost gone and I am pondering whether to mow the lawn ;-)

    Your photos are lovely
    wishing you snow and a lovely 2012~

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  21. forgetmenotDecember 30, 2011 at 1:22 AM

    Kelly, Your wonderful photos never cease to amaze me--absolutely spectacular. The gold finch is always a treat to watch. It WILL snow soon--you can count on it. Happy New Year. Mickie ;)

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  22. myonlyphotoDecember 30, 2011 at 8:43 PM

    Kelly we did not have snow for Christmas either, but I think it was good because it would add extra stress to driving when shopping and when visiting during Xmas. However, right after we got white holidays. Hope you had a very good Xmas. Wishing you and yours and your Matty happy new year. All the best! Anna :)

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  23. UnknownDecember 30, 2011 at 10:48 PM

    yes it sure has been wet wet wet it seems. that fluff-ball finch photo is so so cute.
    birds just amaze me !

    - KAT -

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  24. KellyDecember 31, 2011 at 5:06 AM

    thanks, everyone. "Winter" American Goldfinches are always so sweet to watch. Still no snow here, but the temps are rumored to drop and snow may fly yet!

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  25. AnonymousJanuary 7, 2012 at 3:47 AM

    Hi Kelly,

    We are having a crazy warm winter this year. I can't remember a warmer winter since the time I was 6 years old and got a new sled for Christmas!

    I'm just getting caught up with your recent posts since I was off the grid for 11 days.

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