Ultra-Puffy Chickadee

It got fairly warm today (50 degrees), but a brisk wind kept things quite chilly while Paul and I went for a quick walk around the neighborhood. Apparently we weren't the only ones feeling the wind, because we came across the puffiest chickadee I have ever seen -- it was huddled into a perfectly round and fluffy ball in a bush next to the path:

What a lovely flowing black-and-white hairdo you have, little bird! And yes, you're doing a marvelous impression of a tennis ball:

(I know it's been chickadee central around here recently, but what can you do? These guys are just the perfect combination of visible, approachable, and adorable.)

Even though Skunk Cabbages started poking their buds above the ground already in late fall, seeing them now among melting patches of snow makes me think of spring:

But we've still got some winter left, yet! Keep those feathers fluffed up, little birds!