Dark-eyed Juncos

More and more, I'm starting to think that Dark-eyed Juncos are some of our prettiest winter birds. During my walk this morning, I met a flock of fairly obliging juncos, and I found even more things to like about these cute little creatures. Their coal-gray tops are striking of course, but I love that tiniest bit of gray on the tip of this one's pale pink beak:
 

These birds' white outer tail feathers are particularly lovely, too, especially offset as they are by the other (gray) feathers. And those brilliant white bellies make me think of snow. :D
 

I'm sure other people have made this comparison already, but these juncos seem dressed in their finest tuxedos -- elegant, and pristine (well, except for the bit of food stuck to this bird's beak...):
 

"May I have this dance?"

Juncos mean "winter" to me, but our recent rainy/temperate weather sure doesn't make it feel like winter's actually coming. Here's hoping the official change of the season (in only a couple of days) brings some more appropriate weather -- I'd love to get to see some real snow this year!