Last week here in Colorado the yellow eyed juncos with the rusty colored back started showing up. today i saw the first of the dark eyed juncos outside. We have had snow in the mountains but just frosts here so far but is a definate change of seasons here.

About four or five years ago, when I began actively feeding birds suet, I had a lot of Juncos. I try to add scraps to a tray that sits on my central air unit, and that's where they'd typically eat, but they'd also venture to my hanging suet. I also read that they love fritos, so perhaps adding crushed fritos to my suet attracted them as well. I don't use black sunflower seeds because the hulls contain a toxin that inhibits plant growth - and I'm an avid gardener / landscaper. In addition to suet I also provide nyger seed, safflower seed and wild mix bird seed. Ever since I added millet to my suet the wrens stuck around and refuse to leave. Huge mistake. At the same time I've added more evergreen trees & shrubs to my landscape, and they love the shelter it provides near my feeders. Especially considering we have chicken hawks (coopers hawks) in the area, so I try to keep my feeders near brush or trees.

Hi all, Measuring out on the “flattest parts” of my yard, it looks like I have about 9” of snow on the ground from this storm! When it first started the ground was warm and the first stuff was melting, so for a “real” total, I estimate at least an inch or two more than that. I was REALLY surprised when I got up this morning! Thru the whole thing, including right up to when I went to bed last nite, it had only snowed “fine” snow, and pretty lightly most of the time, and it really didn’t seem to have added up “that” much, but “overnite,” and I was up till 2:00 a.m., “something” happened, and there was a whole bunch of it out there by daylight! I shoveled the sidewalk yesterday while it was snowing—heavy stuff since it was melting on the bottom, and then a neighbor shoveled my whole driveway (which I won’t be using!) and a “shovel wide” down my whole walk, which makes it “legal!” I was out earlier and “widened” my sidewalk, and got some of the stuff left on the neighbor’s walk! I need to get exercise somehow in winter! Wonder if we’ll get any more Big Ones this year! Zach, Mr. Snow Hater, were you here the year we had a new blizzard every week for a month or more? I think it was ‘06/’07! The first one was just before Christmas, and then they just kept going. Thousands of people were “stranded” at the airport for DAYS, and they ran out of food and everything else. I think that was the storm when United “lost” an unaccompanied minor at DIA for something like four hours—and the airline didn’t even know she was missing! And there was somebody selling Genuine Colorado Snow on eBay! The buyers, of course, had to pay the shipping! The ruts in the street in front of me were a foot deep—for most of a month! Denver had DIRTY SNOW! For at least a month! Dirty Snow is a rare creature here along the Front Range! I had lived here for more than 40 years and had never seen anything like that winter! And I’m sure I never will again in this lifetime! So, Mr. Snow Hater, it COULD be worse! How much did everybody else get this time? Skybird P.S. I was composing this when you did your post, Zach!

If you can't find it, Amour Elite is more or less about identical and may be easier to find. There is another version called Cajun's Ethereal Fairy that is very similar but with puff fantasy. It's also stunning and on my wanted list. And finally there is a little known version called K's Dancing Spree that is like the first two but with variegated leaves. I'm watching out for that one too.