Snow letdown! :-(

Once again, we got all fired up for a good snow only to be let down! Around 11:30 last night a "nose of warm air," as the meteorologists called it, poked its way into the lower central valley. Unfortunately, it was just warm enough to make the snow turn to sleet and even a brief bit of rain. :( So, instead of waking up to a winter wonderland of 8" or so of beautiful, fluffy snow, we awoke to 2" of slush! Yuck! It just seems like cold air and wet conditions just aren't meant to meet here! What made matters worse, just a few miles up the valley the areas got 8 - 10" of snow. Grrr! Today we had a wintry mix of snow, sleet and rain. The old adage about if you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes and it will change, was certainly true today! I guess we have to be happy with any white stuff we can get here. Maybe we'll get some more later this winter, one can only hope.
So, I had to satisfy myself by taking bird and squirrel photos. I threw some extra bird food on the ground under the feeder behind the house, I knew that would entice the birds to come a little closer so I could get some good photos. It worked! I was able to get the best Brown Thrasher photo yet. I like their yellow eyes! The sparrows are very active, constantly hopping around, but I managed to get a few good shots of the White-throated variety. I like his yellow "eyebrows", yellow must be a good color this year! :)
The squirrels have been enjoying not only the bird seed, but also the suet. Despite the fact they are rodents, they are not strict vegetarians! I get a bit aggravated at them, but how can you get mad at a face like that peering at you?! :) I wasn't quite so patient with the flock of nasty starlings that swooped in, I knocked on the window to scare them away. They are such obnoxious birds! The cardinals were so pretty against the snow. This female enjoyed eating the sunflower seeds.