Cheerful in the Rain

What a dark and dreary morning. I woke in the dark, to rain on the roof. Birds are active though, and a Carolina wren cheered me with her insistent call. Gotta love a bird whose voice is about 100 times its weight!

I must say that the still-bare trees look elegant in the gloom, swaying in the wind. This is actually a great time to see birds and last year's nests, because there are no leaves to block your vision (true all winter, of course) and there is no glare from the sun.
And another bright spot in my woods is a beech tree that is still clinging to last year's leaves. Beeches can propagate by putting out root runners, and the "mother" tree has lost most of her leaves, but the saplings still have theirs. I wonder why they hold their leaves? Oaks do also, to some extent. A chance for some research!