The Next Snow Storm

What do most people do when the next snow storm comes? My guess is they stock up on food and hunker down. Me? I grab bird seed, my photo blind, camera gear, and head out to the local park. And since I see very few vehicles while I am out there, I am guessing I am correct on my “hunkering down of others” theory.

Unless I HAVE to travel, I always look forward to the next heavy snow storm; even in March, April, May… Yesterday’s storm was awesome, from my standpoint. We had approximately 7” of fresh snow, with big flakes.

There is a place at our local park where a person or people put seed out on the ground for birds throughout the winter. I took bird seed along to sprinkle it on top of the snow, where the birds could find it easier. And the birds put on quite a show.

I spent 2+ hours sitting in my ground blind taking photos. The blind was mainly used to keep the snow off of me and my camera. But it also helped mask some of my movement. The photos below represent only a very small portion of the 1500 images I took.

A Northern Cardinal male takes flight from its perch. Sony a9 + 100-400mm lens & 1.4x teleconverter @ 441 mm, ISO 640, f/8, 1/1250. ©Stanley Buman. Swan Lake State Park.
The Dark-eyed Junco was perched on the snow bank and took flight. Sony a9 + 100-400mm lens & 1.4x teleconverter @ 391 mm, ISO 1250, f/8, 1/2000. ©Stanley Buman. Swan Lake State Park.
Tree Sparrows overwinter in Iowa and will soon be headed north. Sony a9 + 100-400mm lens & 1.4x teleconverter @ 560 mm, ISO 1250, f/8, 1/2000. ©Stanley Buman. Swan Lake State Park.
Harris Sparrows also overwinter in Iowa and soon will be headed north. Sony a9 + 100-400mm lens & 1.4x teleconverter @ 560 mm, ISO 1250, f/8, 1/2000. ©Stanley Buman. Swan Lake State Park.
A couple of Blue Jays came in early but were frequently absent during most of my visit. Sony a9 + 100-400mm lens & 1.4x teleconverter @ 560 mm, ISO 640, f/8, 1/800. ©Stanley Buman. Swan Lake State Park.

I am glad I am very familiar with the park and the roads back into town. Everything was white and heavy snow was falling. My knowledge helped me judge where the road was.

More snow if forecast for this coming Sunday. Sadly, only about 1” of new snow is predicted. Hmm, I wonder where I will be.

4 thoughts on “The Next Snow Storm”

  1. Thank you Stan, beautiful photos once again. The birds are much more showy on the back ground of snow. I do however, believe spring is in the waiting wings and will catch up with you.

    1. Sue, it was a great day to be outside. I know Spring is on the way and I love Spring. However, I am not quite ready for Spring if we can get some more nice snow events.

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