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Author Archives: Teri J Pieper

The Birds and Bees of Winter

Lots of birds have enjoyed our feeders this winter. The feeders are set up so we can see them from our main windows throughout the day. A tiny Northern Pygmy-Owl has been terrorizing the even tinier Common Redpolls. Red Crossbills (yes, their bills are crossed) show up most every day and there is, occasionally an American Goldfinch. Most years we have lots of goldfinches and House Finches but not this year.

On days when the temperature gets up to freezing and the sun is shining the honeybees will work at cleaning out their hives. It seems so strange to see dead bees in the snow. It’s supposed to be a good thing – an indicator that the live bees are keeping things tidy in there.

We had a tree-climbing expert come in and install a new nest box from Nice Nests, high up in our biggest dead ponderosa pine tree. Hopefully the kestrel that was here earlier in the winter will return and raise some young birds in it next summer.

American Kestrel nest box
White-breasted Nuthatch
Common Redpoll
American Goldfinch
Red Crossbill
Red Crossbills
Common Redpolls and Pine Siskin
House Finches
Northern Pygmy-Owl
Red Crossbills

Winter at Home

Here it is February already – more than a month into the new year. Time goes by so quickly. I made lots of images last month and finally got around to editing them.

We continue to get lots of snow and it is deep and perfect for winter activities. Ken’s brother stayed for a few days and tried his AT gear and his snowboard on the hill above us. It really made me want to get some back country skis.

Some days have had snow falling all day long and others have been brilliantly sunny. The frost and icicles have been amazing. Of course, we’ve had our share of shoveling. A friend gifted us his used snowblower and it was just in time. We were nearly overwhelmed with the amount of work. And then we had to have a big front loader come in and move the big berms left by the plow guy.

Here is a sampling of images from around our hillside.

Ken watching from below
Nice turns
Morning alpenglow
Morning alpenglow
frosty serviceberry leaves hanging on
It’s deep out there
Garden fence
You think this is deep? Now you can’t even see the window!
The river below us
Drip

Snow-covered Falls Creek Falls

Last week MA and I and the four dogs skied to Falls Creek Falls. This is the same place I visited back in November when we could still drive there. Photos of that day are here. It is a very pleasant outing on classic cross country skis and during the week there was no snowmobile traffic. It is groomed for snow machines.

The falls are very frozen and also snow-covered so the interesting formations were buried. It was still quite beautiful. There was little color to the day except from Sky’s eyes and Frida’s fur.

The dogs enjoyed time on the trail and three out of four were willing to pose for a photo. Luna said no. She is an independent thinker.

We did this same trip a couple years ago when there was far less snow and Sky was still a pup. Photos from that day are here.

Cedar trees
The creek seen from the bridge downstream from the falls.

Winter Light

Yesterday Juliet and I went birding in the Conconully and Okanogan Highlands regions of our county. Birding was slow with not a lot of active birds around but the light on the snow-covered hills was enough to make us stop repeatedly and comment about the beauty that lay before us.

We were surprised to find a Yellow-rumped Warbler along the Okanogan river and closed out our birding day watching a Short-eared Owl hunting at dusk.

I wonder if this is a type of sun dog?
The Okanogan Highlands offer endless vistas
A glorious sunset before we had to go down into the fog-filled valley
And at the end of the day we were wowed by the same sort of colors we saw early in the morning when we descended from the Loup into the Okanogan Valley

New Work at the Confluence Gallery

I continue to work on photo encaustics this winter. Three of my new pieces are hanging in the new show – Shadow and Light – at The Confluence Gallery in Twisp. Photo encaustics are a combination of photos, beeswax and pigments. For this series I have been embedding the photo in the beeswax on a wooden substrate. I hope you have a chance to see this show in person.

Morning Light
Redpoll Flying into the Light
Winter Light on Beaver Pond