I wanted to share this image of a female Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco today because I couldn’t resist the soft, innocent look she had after the recent snow.
Female Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco after an Arkansas snow – Canon R7, f8, 1/800, ISO 800, +2.0 EV, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light
As I was editing this junco photo, I realized that in just a few weeks, almost all of these juncos will be on the wing to their breeding grounds.
Then I had to check eBird to see when I can expect my last juncos of the season here—it looks like that’ll be around the first part of April.
I must have just barely missed them when I drove to Arkansas last spring.
It’s going to take me a bit to learn the bird seasons here. That’s okay though because I love to learn.
It’s good to know I have a few more weeks to photograph these sweet juncos. I’m always happy to have them in my viewfinder. It would be wonderful to take photos of them as the grasses start to green up and among the first spring wildflowers.
These “snowbirds” will always remind me of my mom—she loved them so.
I wish I could share all the beautiful photos I’ve taken of them with my mom since they arrived last fall. I can almost hear how excited she would have been. She would probably have used one of my junco photos as her laptop background. Mom had a habit of doing that with my photos.
Me? I’ll be sad to see the Dark-eyed Juncos leave, but I know they’ll be back in the fall, along with their soft calls and sweet faces.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to view more of my Dark-eyed Junco photos plus facts and information about this species.
The detail and eye contact in this shot is incredible. I am really intrigued by the depth you captured in thew Junco’s eye. Thanks Mia.
We are lucky to have our juncos all year, although they do sort of shift around. In New Hampshire we had slate-colored juncos, but not here. All juncos are fun to have, though.
We will have the sweet little Chipping Sparrows to replace them. But they do seem to hang around a long time.