It gets cold up here on the mountaintop. Not like arctic cold but cold enough you don’t want to leave any brass monkeys out. The colder it gets the harder it is to make a living. Unless that’s what you’re designed for. Many of the birds up here are designed for exactly that. We don’t see them when it’s warm out but let the temp fall below freezing and they’re everywhere.

When the fair weather birds are frozen solid or down south somewhere, these guys are in their glory. Food for them is pretty easy to find as it simply lies on top of the snow, waiting to be gathered. Plus they seem to like wallowing around in the snow, sticking their head in it, wings fluttering around, throwing the snow up in the air. They treat it like some birds treat warm water. During the day they’re scouting out where the best seed pods stick up through the snow and at night, well it’s unknown what they do at night. Probably sleep.

What they are however is an indicator that life can survive and even prosper during the long cold spells in the dead of winter. That gives one hope that if they can make it we can too. Although I’m not going out there and thrash around in the snow no matter how good those seeds taste.