While waiting for photos to download to disk this morning I noticed a small bird flitting about in an evergreen across the lawn. As I got up to get my bins the flock of 26 mourning doves flew off the deck scattering all the birds in the yard into hiding. Of course by the time I got back with the bins the little bird was gone along with the red-squirrel that was working over the same evergreen.

Later while waiting for other photos to download to disk I checked out the flock of sparrow size birds working over the frozen leaf litter along the driveway. After scanning the flock of 10 gold-crowned sparrows the 11th bird caught my eye. Lo! and Behold! It was a white-throated sparrow. It's bright white bib stood out glaringly. The yellow on the front of the head stripes contrasted nicely with the rest of the white stripes on its head. I always think of the head markings on this bird as a snazzy bike helmet. The sparrow got aggressive to one of the gold-crowned sparrows before flitting off out of view. It's a new yard bird for me and a bright moment in a cold morning.

At moonset over the Olympics this morning I felt badly about being out photographing the moonset, not because of the cold, but because of the birds awaiting their chance at their morning food that I'd already put out on the deck. Several bolder birds came in to feed as I got colder and colder as the moon sunk lower and lower into the mountains. All in all a good morning so far. Hope yours are too.

Mary Hrudkaj
Belfair/Tahuya
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