Saturday, April 11, 2009

Give Me Shelter

During a recent snow storm, I found these Pine Sisken hiding in a tree near our kitchen window. My wife calls this bird a 'zipper' bird due to its characteristic call a - "harsh, grating, upwardly inflected 'zreeeeeeet'" (Cornell Lab of Ornithology: All about Birds - goto this site to hear a sample)

This tree is a common hiding spot for a host of local birds. During one nasty windstorm, I counted at least 25 birds hanging on for dear life as tree whipped back and forth. It was an amazing sight and helped me appreciate just how tough these little guys are.

This is my first entry in the Camera Critter's meme. Check them out for some other great photos!

Have a great weekend!

11 comments:

Unknown said...

What a beautiful shot !!

Very nice..

ms toast burner said...

Awww... :-)

Bryan said...

Bird looks quite dysphoric with snow on its head.

Welcome to Camera Critters!

i beati said...

quite puffed up..just enough shelter I guess Sandy

Michele said...

A wonderful shot, the spot of yellow is quite striking. The image of all the little guys clinging to the branches during the windstorm produced a chuckle. =D

Bim said...

Great photo of two slightly cold looking chaps - and the skywatch entry is very beuatiful, too.

Manz said...

Your first entry is a beauty!!

The snow flakes on top of the birds head drives home the conditions that surrounded them.

And the narrow depth of field works perfectly for this image.

I also checked out some of your other photos (on smugmug) and LOVED the rock that frames the view (Pikes Peak through the Siamese Twin's Arch). Great photography!!

Unknown said...

Cute composition Russ. She surely seems to asking for a shelter.

Happy Easter...Thomas

Tulip said...

what a cute little birds. lovely capture. happy easter!

DeniseinVA said...

Great photo of a wonderful little bird. I'm glad that tree is there for sanctuary during bad weather.

Adrienne Zwart said...

Welcome to Camera Critters. This is a great photo!