Yuck, yuck and more yuck....

The 4th day of March and it isn't getting any better out there....the snow has condensed into slop, today's rain deteriorated into more snow as the temperature dropped throughout the day, still there comes a time when you just can't stand being shut indoors any longer, so we ventured out....

and waded through the mess,

and here is the log bay and guess what was flying around here?

an Anna's Hummingbird!  Don't think I'll ever get used to seeing hummingbirds in this sort of weather....and remember that in just a couple of weeks we can expect the rufous to be arriving.

The Red-wing Blackbirds were here and out in the gravel some Junco were running around.  Caught sight of a Hairy Woodpecker and a Belted Kingfisher....

On the way back we noticed birds running along the shore at the edge of the snow....

we couldn't really make out what they were, we noticed quite a few spread out here and there...I was thinking maybe American Pipit.....I know years ago when there wasn't the human population around here we would occasionally venture out onto the flats in winter, and Pipits were one of the species we would find out there....

but when I got home and downloaded the photos and did a lot of editing....they weren't pipits...they were Varied Thrush!  more Varied Thrush, so not only are there 30 or 40 of them hanging around my yard, and probably every yard offering bird seed, they are also out on the estuary feeding along the edges....

and just for interests sake....

that is an American Pipit....photo taken out on the flats about 12 years ago.

and also, just for interests sake...this is what I was reporting about a year ago.....

that was the day the Northern Pygmy Owl came to visit....and look - no snow!