What do astronomers do when the skies are cloudy? Texas experienced one of the worst winter storms of the century. At our house temperatures went as low as 6.7 F, snow covered the ground for days, and were below freezing for a week. We had rotating power blackouts and were without water for several days. All in all very lucky others were without power for many days and some froze to death. All in the name of an electricity market designed to maximize profits and ignore planning for climate change.

As the storm started coating trees with ice, birds were busy preparing for the blast of cold, stocking up on berries from our Yaupon Holly tree. These images were made with my Sony a7iii and a Nikor 180mm f/2.8 prime lens. Being a good astrophotographer I still had the UV/IR cut filter in place.

A Robin with an icy berry in his beak:

A Cedar Waxwing gobbling up berries with a buddy