Sometimes you wonder as sundown approaches and is only ten minutes away whether it is worth waiting, and then something likes this experience happens! Yesterday this Snowy Owl suddenly appeared and perched on this pine tree for about five minutes just before sunset.
I often am not able to see whatever an owl sees in the sky above. This was one of those instances, but I have learned the owl is ALWAYS right. Something was up there!
This take-off was an hunting attack that failed.
If anyone would like a free PDF download of my children’s book, which documents the owlets raised my this owl and its mate (factually correct), browse to Hoot’s page.
Here is a bird I never would have considered a Boreal bird … the Red-Bellied Woodpecker. I photographed it in my yard yesterday morning, and although it is in an aspen, my neighborhood is dominated by white pine trees. It stays the winter, along with a pair of Northern Cardinals … another bird which never used to live up north. While hiking in the Lester / Amity woods, I often see the Red-Bellied foraging on both pines and cedar trees. It has obviously adapted to the pine forest.
Photographed during a snow squall … another major winter storm starts late tonight!
Red-Bellied Woodpecker (male … a female would have a gap at the top of its head in the red coloring)
Enjoying the snow (video link for email subscribers)