Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all! I hope your Christmas is safe and loving!

The refuge in snow

Another refuge visit today and this time we saw a lot more activity. Harriers, eagles, kestrels and GBH's along with pheasant and what appears to be a lost American Avocet! A very gray day which makes it a bit difficult to obtain focus, but we managed.
I really love the drama of this type of landscape - very little detail and what there is shows against the white backdrop. Lots of opportunity for creativity.

Simple design highlights the barbed wire.

Beautiful Ring-necked Pheasant posed for a shot.

Not sure why this Avocet is still here - supposed to be down in South America now!

This Northern Harrier dove into this bush, I never could see what he was after. But he seemed to have a heck of a time getting back out!!

The solitary GBH - with the stream and the one fence pole for balance.

He looks cold, doesn't he?

Happy Birthday to me!

67 years and still going strong! Well, still going anyway! A wonderful day capped off with a wonderful dinner at our favorite The New Yorker with our daughter and son-in-law. We got to admire Lisa's new wedding ring and just enjoy our time together.

Earlier Murphy and I had walked around the refuge Nature Center, a gray day with not much happening. But there is always something to see, and in this case it is the small marsh birds - not sure if this is a wren or not. They flit around hiding from you but just able to see you and barely be seen - cute and fun to be with. That plus the snow and the grasses - all made for very nice shots. They look quite similar, but in one the bird is more visible and the second is taken to accentuate the line of the snow which seems to disappear.

Back to the snow

Wow, the flight back yesterday was tiring, way too many people talking and kids being kids. Then when we got to the SLC Airport, it was a slushy mess, traffic jam of planes waiting for de-icing and to get away from their gates..and the inside of the airport was worse, with baggage and people everywhere! We were lucky to get home!
I shoveled this morning, our house-sitter had done an excellent job of shoveling so I could just go to bed last night. The sun came out and melted a lot of ice, reminding me of earlier years in SLC when this happened regularly - heavy snow and then melt.
While I miss the beach, the refuge and birds, and the warmth I am glad to be home and be with our animals, especially Fuzzy and Murphy. Here's a little view of what things looked like today out in the backyard.

Collared Dove sits by the feeders - he can't fit on either of them so mostly picks up the remnants that the littler birds spill.

Sanibel Day 5 - a walk through Bailey's tract

After sunrise and breakfast, I took a walk through Bailey's Tract, a 100-acre part of the WMA. It contains some fresh water and has the possibility of seeing some wildlife - e.g., bobcats, raccoons, etc. There are alligator warning signs posted also.
No such luck, but lots of other beauty to see, a few of which are documented below.

Sanibel Day 4 Birds

Here's the bird photos I mentioned yesterday.

A double-breasted cormorant looking very elegant.

Brown pelican fishing in shallow water - looks like the old saying "Head over Teakettle".

He exits much more gracefully!

A Reddish Egret fishing - he 'dances' around the schools of fish and then creates shade with his wings which the fish will then swim into. Fascinating to watch.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron - elegant!

A juvenile Tri-colored Heron.

Roseate spoonbill fishing -

Peaceful

Sanibel Day 4

We - Diana, Meg and I - spent about 3 hours at the refuge this morning and came away with some astounding shots. But, there are other things here besides the wild birds and one of these is awesome sunsets. So tonight sunset photos are the focus - and we'll get back to birds later!
Enjoy and think - 70 degree weather and a soft breeze!!