When seasons collide

Last night we experienced our first snowstorm of the year. If I dwell too much on the fact that winter appears to have begun in October, I'll probably end up curled up in a ball in a corner somewhere. So instead I'll focus on the unique photo opportunity it provided me this morning in the form of a maple tree I noticed when I got to work. Vivid red leaves, white snow, clear blue sky... how could I resist?





Not much in the way of snow in this one, but I still liked how it came out.



And a closeup of some leaves to close things out:

To baldly go...

About a week ago, a very scruffy-looking Goldfinch caught my eye when it was sitting on my bird feeder. I didn't realize exactly how scruffy it was, though, until I zoomed in on it with my camera. I have no idea whether it's molting (as the rest of its plumage suggests), survived a run-in with a cat or some other predator, or is the result of some cross-breeding experiment involving Goldfinches and Vultures that's gone horribly awry. What I do know is that this Goldfinch was, at the time I took these pics, practically bald:



Giving me the side-eye:



And a look at the opposite profile; if you look closely, you'll see that the bird has quite a few more feathers under its eye than it does on the other side. I just hope it's all filled back in soon, as it's getting a bit chilly outside to be going bare-headed all day long: