Merry Christmas to All!

This is what the back yard looks like this morning...

We had freezing rain yesterday,

And light snow last night,

Leaving my favorite winter element, 

Beautiful ice crystals, all over

The wintery outdoors...
And an even  more beautiful Northern Harrier
Came calling and I almost missed it,
But oh what a lovely blessing

On the morn of Christmas Eve...

* * * * *

May All Of You

Have a Very Peaceful, Joyful Christmas,

And a Wonderful, Exciting New Year!
Thank You So Very Much
For Stopping By in 2010!

Winter Gatherers

The sun was out yesterday and it wasn't too breezy, so I grabbed the camera and headed south to Custer Park, driving E to W on Hwy 16A to the town of Custer...then driving home via Hwy 385 N and Sheridan Lake Rd.....

I stopped in a turnout along French Creek near the Game Lodge area in the park, as I could see birds flitting about...this white-breasted nuthatch landed on the pine tree near the car for a few moments...

I stopped to eat my lunch (in the car) at Legion Lake, a real small lake in the park, which was frozen and covered with a layer of snow...I got out of the car when I saw a flash of movement over 100 yds away at Legion Lake Lodge...I took a shot hoping I could at least ID the bird...as I suspected, it was a gray jay, so they are back (winter migrators) and I have hopes of getting a decent photo this year, having only discovered them last year and not getting any good shots to date...

Out of the park and N on Hwy 385, the bighorn sheep were back at a favored spot, the junction for Sheridan Lake Rd. The male on the right obviously has a hokey rt horn...the sheep on the left appear to be yearlings...there were more adults there but all had their behinds to me, grazing...

 

I had to do my usual stop at Spring Creek picnic area...where I barged in on a squirrel at its pinecone 'factory'...it froze for minutes and I was able to take several shots but for some infuriating reason, none of them came out sharp...ARG!

The pinecone pit at a different angle...

Well hello again! I was walking along the road when I realized Mr. Squirrel was watching me from a tree near the roadside...he allowed me to take photos, which came out better...

What a cute poser...

Spring Creek at a different spot I frequent...

The creek's opposite edge, looking a bit chilly....

I could hear a gurgling sound so I investigated...the creek's current against the edge of the frozen surface was somehow creating this bubbling phenom...bloop!

Rough-legged Hawks

This time of year, the birds of prey are abundant...I've seen my first bald eagle in this area recently, and the other day a hawk swooped up from the ground just a few feet from my car as I whipped by...it had been feeding on a carcass I'm sure...so the other day I took a drive out in the grasslands (farmland) to have a look and to soak up some rays.....

My best shot of the day came first, of this rough-legged hawk...I saw several RL hawks as it turned out...they are only seen in S Dakota during winter or migration and do not breed here...

I'm pretty sure this is a golden eagle..it was a good distance and it was big...same general area I'd seen the golden eagle last year...

I came around a bend in the winding gravel road and found three RL hawks on the road...they flew off to a nearby dead tree as I neared...they were reluctant to leave the area so I wonder what they were so fired up about...probably a fresh kill...

It's not uncommon to see hawks perched on top of hay stacks...like this RL hawk...this one allowed me to get fairly close and take photos but they all came out crappy due to the sunlight angle.

Yesterday and today the weather has been unseasonably warm, 50+ F / 15 - ish C ...right now the therm. on the porch says 60...! Feels like late Sept. weather. Still have patches of snow from the last snowfall but it's wonderful to be able to sit out on the porch and read, soak some rays up, and it's almost mid Dec.!

New Season at Canyon Lake

A few days ago I visited the lake, expecting to see some ice on the surface...I did...I ate a picnic lunch in the car, with the engine running so that the heater also ran...I'd expected to lunch like that...light wasn't good but oh well...it wasn't cold out at least, as I walked along to see what I could snap...

A coot on ice along the edge of the lake shore...

Mallards swam to the icy shore to see if I had edible handouts...I did not...so off they skittered over the ice back into the cold water...

There were plenty of rock doves, this one w/ an interesting color variation...and a lack of fight-or-flight instinct apparently...I got quite close unlike w/ any of the others...

...More rock doves on the bridge railing...

A few wigeons were sighted...

And some common goldeneyes...winter migrants...

...As well as the buffleheads...this male had a more white head...

Than this (left) and most of the other males...right is the female bufflehead...

The gazebo on Gazebo Island...mostly buffleheads in the water.

Last Shots of Autumn

It's awful early to be in a winter doldrums frump, but I confess that I am...sigh...the sun's out today so I'm thinking I need to high-tail it over to the pond to see what's about.....anyway, I never did post the photos from my last two outings before the trip to CA/first snowfall, so now's a good time to get that caught up with too.....

In late Oct., I took a drive to Bear Butte Lake, but there weren't any migrating water fowl as yet except a few Canada geese...I did get shots of some song sparrows, tho...and this empty bird house... 

One of those song sparrows on fencing...a golden tree in the background...

A closer shot of the same sparrow...

Under foot, a late thistle and its visitor...

Another song sparrow...or the same one?...seeing me off at the gate...

And the same one, having moved as I crept along past the gate towards the road...

Later still in Oct., I made a trip to Custer State Park...

Not far beyond the E entrance there's a picnic area w/ French Creek running thru it...I found this squirrel gathering food...

Bulrush growing beside the creek...

A chipmunk with a full mouth spiraled around a tree as I followed it...

On to the wildlife loop road, a female antelope basked in the sun...

...Timing...I came upon five large bull buffalo meandering towards the road from across a field...

Three of them closer up...they headed south and out of sight before reaching the road...

Another stop along French Creek where there's a foot trail...and this beautifully textured oak tree...

Whose leaves were all blanketing the creek's surface.

Multnomah Falls, Oregon

On the return road trip from N. Calif., the Huz and I stopped on 11/18 along the Columbia River Gorge, to look at Multnomah Falls, one of several falls in the gorge. We've seen the falls before, years ago, but it's worth another look-see...the gorge is between the Oregon/Washington state borders and you can drive on either side...I've never been on the WA side...it's impossible to get a photo of the river to do it any justice...let's just say, the river is amazing, the scenery fabulous...a drive along I-84 is worthy of a spot on your bucket list...

The view of Multnomah Falls from across the highway...there's a path that leads under the traffic to the falls...as you can see, it wasn't a sunny day...you can see a wisp of a 2nd fall to the right of MF...the bldg. below, hidden in the trees, used to be Multnomah Lodge but is now a gift shop and restaurant.

We didn't walk the steep path to the bridge, having done that our previous visit...

The view below the bridge...there are people on the bridge in this shot...

There were large yellow and smaller, bright red maple leaves all over the paved viewing area below the falls. We smuggled a big yellow leaf home...  :-}

Multnomah Falls is a 30 min. drive E of Portland...the top tier of the Falls is 542 feet long and the bottom tier has a 69 ft drop, or a total of a 611 ft drop. Benson Bridge is named after the man who owned the falls but gave the land to the city of Portland before his death. The falls doesn't dry up in the summer. Rain water, snow melt, and an underground spring feed the falls year-round.