Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Common Goldeneye
Not a great shot but we were excited to see Common Goldeneyes for the first time while counting birds at Harkness. We also saw Sanderlings for the first time (so cute!). And we saw 23 Common Eiders .. which are, apparently, out of their normal range for this time of year .. so I had to prove that we saw them. Luckily I took pictures. It was cold but a nice walk.
snowy pier
Backyard bird count begins. Most interesting sightings .. 2 hooded merganser and a red-breasted merganser. Kids spent a long time collecting shells and seaglass. Then we went to S's for tea. Later had a visit from Grandpa B delivering valentines. :)
Saturday, February 6, 2010
red-shouldered hawk
Watched this red-shouldered hawk fly across our windshield, grab a mole or shrew out of the ditch and fly back up to a tree. Here it is holding it's fresh meal. We also watched it eat (while being circled by angry bluejays.)
icy river
Took a side trip on the way home. We took a short COLD walk on the CT river. The sun was nice .. the river was icy. The ice was breaking up in some spots and cracking and moving .. when it hit the rocks it sounded like music, like wind chimes. We saw all kinds of cool birds .. I will post the faraway but still cool shots here too. It was so great to get out and see some incredibly beautiful scenes. It was necessary for me to be reminded that there are parts of winter that I love and would be unhappy to miss!
Bushy Hill
Gathering sticks and tinder for our fire. Yellow birch bark worked wonders getting the fire going with all the wet snow.
in the meadow
While L was at class, e and I took a long walk .. he pretended to be a killdeer and I was a fox and he acted like he had a hurt wing so I would chase him and he could lead me away from his nest. :)
valentine bear
We look forward to driving by this bear on the way to the nature center and we wonder how it will be dressed. The kids are hoping for St Patrick's decorations next month.
