When this sky greeted us in the morning I should have known something was up. But checking the advanced forecast, the call was for warming and rain, the usual January thaw, which Boom and I dislike. So we thought we'd better get moving, and reap while the sun shone.
No this is not the moon, it's the sun having a hard time breaking through the clouds. So much for that" farmy reap" stuff.
In fact it looked like the sun was going to lose the struggle, and the day would be overcast.
Yet to the west, the sky was brightening a bit. They should have a white balance called " when you and the weather man are uncertain".
And the western sky continued to brighten as the photo opposite shows.
The River was still unconvinced of any sun and continued to show black against the ice rim.
The sun showed with a little bit of yellow, allowing me to catch the River in a golden mood. The River had been steaming all morning, and this photo shows the mist rising.
That heavy mist means frost, and it turns the forest to a glimmering jewel.
These shots show the frost on the trees along the River.
The shot below shows the frost along the ridge, as well as along the River bank.
You can also see the day lightening, but still the weather is pretty undecided. The next series of shots don't need a commentary, but the frost adds another dimension to the already snow covered forest. The ending of the story was that this exceptional hike was followed by rain, and freezing rain, and Boom and I are home bound as everything is now icy. A post to SWF @
http://skyley.blogspot.com/ Camera Critters @
http://http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/ and Scenic Sunday @
http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/
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| Seeds |
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| Seed Pods Coated with frost. |
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| A Frost Coated Bush. |
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| Frost Coated Branch. |
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| Frost and Snow Coated Nest Of Some Sort. |
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| Male Pine Grosbeak. |
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| Male Pine Grosbeak in Frosty Branches. |
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| Close Up Male Pine Grosbeak, and Female Evening Grosbeak. |
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| Male Evening Grosbeak and Male Pine Grosbeak in Background. |
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| Female Redpoll. |
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| Male Redpoll |
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| Black-capped Chickadee |
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| Black-capped Chickadee In the Cat Tails. |
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| Mourning Dove. |
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| Blue Jay |
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| Blue Jay |
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Mourning Dove. |
The weather has again been all over the place from some sun to a spring type storm with high winds and wet snow. The scenic photos are still from our frosty hike to the west side of the River. The point in the title is two fold. 
As I told you I have been on the outlook for Hoary Redpolls as opposed to the Common Redpoll. I finally found a lone female. Now I just have to spot the Greenlander variety, which has been seen in the Thunderbay area.The other point is the variation in the female Pine Grosbeaks colour and coverage. 
I'll point out the Hoary, and the female Pine Grosbeak colour variation by way of captions as it`s a long post.
This last photo shows the blue sky in the NW, while the east is overcast.
This is a female Hoary Redpoll recognizable by her buff coloured chest and the less definite stripes on her side. The real key is the white/buff patch between her wings on her back.
The Hoary is on the right facing us, but surrounded by Common Redpolls.
This shot show the male and female Evening Grosbeak. Note the beak is yellow. It changes in the summer to a greenish yellow.
And of course the Blue Jay. A Post to MWT @ http://ourwoeldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com/ and WBW @ http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/ . Click on photos to enlarge and for slideshow.
