Surprise Snow

Here's an unexpected sight from our yard this morning. What the heck is this?? (I exclaim along with the crocuses that have been blooming happily in their bed for the past week or so.)

Actually, the crocuses are probably unfazed, hardy garden plants that they are. I'm the one who can't fathom the appearance of two inches of SNOW after I was so sure spring was firmly here.

When the snow started falling yesterday, the bird activity in our yard (especially around the feeders) kicked into high gear. I actually saw our first Eastern Phoebe of the year come barreling through at one point, looking very out of place in the snow. Phoebe, I'm super happy that you're here, but you picked the wrong day to come back!

The American Goldfinches are patchily morphing into their summer breeding costumes now:

So... spring! But... snow?

The Dark-eyed Juncos looked right at home in the snow of course; this one even had a perfect tiny snowflake decorating its face:

This male House Finch was looking particularly resplendent amid the falling snow:
 

And some female Northern Cardinals were a lovely sight on the still-bare trees:
 

I don't think I've ever noticed such bold eyebrows on a female cardinal before; what a handsome lady:
 

Another female cardinal struck a somewhat sleeker pose on a neighboring branch:

 
As I'm posting this at the end of the day, most of the snow has already melted, and we're supposed to be back up to temperatures in the 40s and 50s for the next several days. I'll take this as just a small and unexpected reminder of winter as we head onward into spring!