No Juncos Yet

There's no more quintessentially winter bird here than the Slate Colored Junco, oft called the "Snow Bird".  These characters spend the summer up in the mountains and join us for the winter months, and seem to do just fine despite the worst possible conditions.  But they only reluctantly come to the feeder stations.  I don't think I've ever seen them in those places much before Thanksgiving.  Reports from reliable witnesses inform me that they are now in the county.  And I suspect they're around here, too.  But I will need to scan with more than a casual eye for spots under shrubs and in thickets.  Perhaps I will get an early November sighting this year!