Shoot Me Monday

While some schools in the country are off on President's Day, Tucson schools get Thursday and Friday off for rodeo break.  Yee-haw!  So I decided to take Gaby and the girls to Pinetop in the White Mountains to play in the snow.  With low temperatures forecasted in the teens, I was furious the day before we left when my nice Eddie Bauer jacket was stolen.  My expensive sunglasses and new gloves were in there too!  Not cool.

There was at least six inches of snow on the ground when we arrived.  It had snowed there on Wednesday when Tucson got some snow too.  Dark-eyed Juncos were around the cabin.

These are of the "Red-backed" variety.  Their blackish upper bill and bluish lower bill help separate them from the "Gray-headed" form of the Rockies.

We dropped by Rainbow Lake to check for Bald Eagles and found these Mallards slipping on the ice.

The Bald Eagles were out on the ice too along with a brave American Crow.

While I was enjoying the eagles, my girls excitedly shouted for me to come over.  This is what they had found.

A duck in mid dive frozen in the ice!  Definitely my weirdest bird sighting.

We woke up Sunday morning to falling snow and a couple inches on the ground.  The girls had a blast!