Photoshop has been reinstalled and I can get back to my pictures. Below are a selection of pictures taken recently. The macro photographs of frost were taken on a cold morning a few days ago. I had missed taking pictures of the frost the day before and was lucky to get it this day as it is now once again too warm for frost. The sun rose and shone through the few leaves that still had some color adding a nice contrast to their thick white borders.

This year has so far seen a large irruption of northern finches into the United States. But before the finches, it was the Red-breasted Nuthatch that heralded the possibility of an exciting winter. Whatever happens it is sure to be better than last winter. This is from Ron Pittaways' Winter Finch Forecast 2012-2013;

Down here in Massachusetts Red-breasted Nuthatches are everywhere right now. Though in early fall there we even more of them. They have ventured into our mostly deciduous yard and just a few days ago visited the sunflower feeder for the first time. 
I hadn't ever seen any northern finches before this fall as last year was my first year birding and last winter was a non-winter. But now, it being November 20 today, winter isn't even upon us yet and I have already seen Pine Siskin, White-winged Crossbill, Red Crossbill, Common Redpoll, and Evening Grosbeak. From Ron Pittaway;

It seems that it is not just this winter's theme but also this fall's. And if this is what the fall looks like, what will the winter look like? Swirling flocks of Crossbills have already inundated Salisbury Beach State Reservation on the northern border of Massachusetts. At Popes Pond, down the street from my home, I have finally seen a flock of eighteen Common Redpolls that I knew would eventually appear given their preference for the seed cones of the birches that are plentiful there.
Pine Grosbeaks have already been seen at Plum Island along with the occasional Hoary Redpoll mixed in with the Commons. I almost can't wait to see what this winter brings. Hopefully many chances for photography.

Below is a series of photographs of White-winged Crossbills at Salisbury State Reservation from two different dates. The rich pink bird is an adult male white the paler pink is an immature male and the greenish-tinged one is a female.

Last night and the night before have seen the first couple of real frosts we have had so far. The temperature dipped down to 25 both nights. Today and yesterday I ventured over to Popes Pond early in the morning. Yesterday I saw the meadow by the pond completely enveloped in a layer of ice crystals. I was not prepared to photograph it then and the light was not ideal so I went back this morning and took a whole series of macro shots. There were many red and yellow leaves outlined in white, the sun shining through their centers. If photoshop starts working again I will be able to post them.

I've always found it difficult to photograph nuthatches. For one thing, they rarely stop moving. They are constantly creeping along branches searching for insects between the crevices of the bark, or as is more consistent with the the Red-breasted, rummaging through clumps of dried leaves and prying seeds from the undersides of pine-cones. Darting into and out of the light, above and below branches, they are incredibly difficult to get a clean shot of. In my experience I've found it takes three things to get a good nuthatch shot: patience, a few trusting birds, and a reliable food source (e.g. feeders, pine tree with open cones, etc). I generally don't like to use playback (recording of specific species call) for photography on sunny days since the responding bird tends to position itself between yourself and the sun for a better view, eliminating a photographic opportunity (however in some situations [e.g. when a bird is low in a thicket] the bird will jump up into view for a few seconds allowing for a few shots before reorienting itself). 
So far the best shots of White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches (our two resident species) that I've gotten have been in my backyard.

The picture above was taken from our treehouse situated in the middle of the yard. The treehouse is quite a good spot for some of the birds that come to the feeders, and the trunks and branches of the Red Maple that holds it are always great-looking perches. This White-breasted Nuthatch was searching for a good spot to stash the sunflower seed it had taken from the feeder.

The Red-breasted Nuthatch above was taken from a small deck on the second floor of our house. Just like the treehouse it can be a great spot for the nuthatches and woodpeckers. For this shot, I had been pishing to entice a warbler out into the open when this fellow came by to investigate. He stopped for a few seconds as I took a series of quick shots. In his bill he held a cone seed from the giant pine tree next to our yard. Just like the White-breasted Nuthatch he was looking for a spot to stash his seed.

I put the bird feeders back up in our yard yesterday with today being their first full day of use. The birds act as if the feeders had never been taken down. Not five seconds after I put the sunflower seed feeder up yesterday a White-breasted Nuthatch landed on it. There are Red-breasted Nuthatches around. They only seem to be descending from the giant pine in the back corner of our yard to hide seeds wherever they can. Black-capped Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, Slate-colored Juncos, Blue Jays, House Sparrows, and even a Pine Siskin fed from the feeders today. Several other birds of interest were around, near, or over the yard today, including 3 Red-breasted Nuthatches, a calling fly-over Fish Crow ( I've only ever heard American Crows here), House Finches, American Goldfinches, a Carolina Wren, a Red-tailed Hawk and a flock of 10 Cedar Waxwings. 
The waxwings flew over this morning as I left the house at 6:15 to go to Popes Pond. I didn't see anything much unusual at Popes except for a drake Wood Duck. A few Yellow-rumped Warblers are still hanging on there; I counted seven. The Blackpolls have since gone. Another unusual yard bird was a fly-over Greater Yellowlegs on the 2nd. I suppose suitable habitat is only a couple of miles away but it's always weird to see a shorebirds where you've never seen one before.
The Black-capped Chickadees I hand-fed in the yard the summer before last still act as though I am one of them. They fly inches from my face and will still land on my hand. Many of the White-breasted Nuthatches are the same, even though I only hand-fed one of them.

I walked to Turner's Pond yesterday to see what was about waterfowl-wise and to find something to photograph. The American Wigeon and the eight Green-winged Teal from last time were gone and in their place was a drake Ruddy Duck. Other than that, the usual gang of Mallards was there, along with a fast-growing number of Ring-billed Gulls (and one or two Herring Gulls). Passerine-wise, it was pretty quiet. The majority of the action was on the far side of the pond where large numbers of American Robins and Cedar Waxwings were devouring berries. I've never really had a chance to photograph waxwings before, but these ones were at eye level or lower and many of the juveniles were fearless. I usually see waxwings high up in a tree, and when they do happen to be low they flee if I try to get close; therefore I relished this opportunity and spent more than an hour with them. As I photographed them I realized that the backlighting accentuated their smooth contours. When seen at close range the adults look as though any details in their feathers were smoothed out in photoshop. The adults had smooth yellow bellies melting into a soft tan color towards the head, and gray wings and tail with a waxy yellow tip. Since the color in the tip of the tail is derived from their diet, some individuals will have an orange tip instead of yellow. The juveniles were more ratty than the adults and had varying amounts of gray in their plumage.

Other than the berry-eaters there weren't many birds around. I did notice a turtle which had hauled itself out of the water and onto a log. The first thing I noticed was that it definitely wasn't a Painted Turtle. It was a bit larger than one and was all dark, with a yellow-orange underside. I am pretty sure it was a Wood Turtle.