Snow on the First Day of Winter...Perfect!

Today is the Winter Equinox (the longest night of the year) and the first day of winter, how perfect to have snow today!

We knew there was a storm headed toward the mountains, but we weren't sure whether or not we would be the recipients of anything but wind.  To our great surprise and delight, when we woke up this morning, snow surrounded us.  Not a lot, but enough to make the ground white...just beautiful!  And it snowed all morning, sometimes flurries, sometimes more, and it stayed 22 degrees.  The wind blew hard, blustering the snow on the trees and roof about.  Made for one of those cozy mornings with the wood burning stove blazing (I did venture outside to take this photo, you can see the snow falling), coffee in hand.

Each morning, I put birdseed into all the feeders distributed in the front yard and around the cabin porch and deck.  This morning, my efforts were limited to the two feeders we have hanging from the porch roof.  I couldn't make it any farther than that, too darn cold and windy!  Of course, the benefit was that now all the birds would be coming to this particular spot, and I/we could watch them from inside the house:)  I am so glad I did!  The birds were swarming the feeders, in fact, I refilled them 5 times during the day!  They brought us a great deal of enjoyment, watching them as it snowed. 

We were able to identify one of the birds I've been seeing frequently as a Vireo, though we still can't figure out the specific type. My pictures were taken through the living room window, I did try to stand outside, but the birds were shy and the wind was too cold for my patience to outlive their shyness, so they are not as sharp as I would like.

One of the most exciting discoveries was 2 pairs of what we believe to be Purple Finch's, though they could be House Finch's.  We had never seen them before!

 This is the Finch in the tree...

 ...on the feeder...

 ...and on the porch (like the Christmas tree lights reflecting in the window?)...

...do you have an opinion of which it is?  Purple or House?  Please let me know what you think!

After the snow stopped, and it warmed up (got up to 26!) we took a walk to the garden...looks so pretty covered in snow!

It's been a great snowy day, we've enjoyed it tremendously.  You know my motto, Let It Snow!
 
Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise