The Early Bird Gets????

We are having a warm spell.  So warm that my house is not calling for heat from the wood boiler today.  It was 54 degrees outside at 9 a.m.  Overcast, light wind from the south, and just plain too warm for not-quite mid-January.

To my surprise, while eating breakfast this morning and looking out the sliding glass door in the dining room, I see Mr. Finch alight on the railing of the deck.  Mr. Finch is a male house finch.  Every year for many now, I have had a pair of house finches who build a nest near my dining room window.  Mr. Finch likes to sit on the deck railing and sing.

I'm surprised to see him because today is only January 12th!  (The 22nd anniversary of the night I met DH, which, incidentally, was also a Saturday).  Usually I don't see Mr. Finch until late March or even early April.  Looking back at my posts from last year, I see he and Mrs. Finch arrived (early) on March 8th last year.  So they are really early this year.

Yes, Mrs. Finch arrived with him.  While I watched Mr. Finch stand on the railing and catch his breath from his long flight home, Mrs. Finch arrived too.

I'm wondering just what kind of winter we are in store for now.  If, perhaps, our Christmas snow is going to be all the accumulation we get this season.  Or, if the early bird is going to get frozen.