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Northern Pygmy Owl

Last month, as we longed for 2020 to end, I was inspired to put up a 2020 Christmas tree in the snow. It was a dead, burned pine from the 2014 fire. It had finally fallen over and I dragged it home through the snow and set it up where I could see it from the house. I even put a few decorations on it. It still stands out there. We also had a lovely evergreen inside the house.

Two days ago, as the dogs and I returned from a walk, I noticed something new in my tree. Not any bigger than my fist, it was a Northern Pygmy Owl. We were going to have to walk near it to get in the house and I was surprised that it didn’t leave its perch even though we were barely social distancing. My camera was inside ready for this moment. I have seen a pygmy owl here a couple of times in the last month and had hoped for a good opportunity to photograph it. Many others are seeing them here in the valley. I wonder if there is a bit of a pygmy owl irruption this winter? Last year I did not see any. Yesterday I saw one from the ski trail and couple weeks ago, I saw one while walking in the hills across the valley.

I saw it again late yesterday afternoon as dense fog rolled in. It was perched in a live pine with a fine view of the bird feeders. These tiny owls generally weigh less than 2 1/2 ounces and are ferocious predators, sometimes taking California Quail and Northern Flickers. The Cornell Lab has more info on Northern Pygmy Owls here.

My 2020 Christmas tree

 

River Scenes

I had a nice walk near the confluence of the Twisp and Methow Rivers last week. New snow blanketed the ground and the sun was shining brightly. Fortunately I remembered to bring some filters.

Sparkly Blue Morning

Yesterday was just lovely! Blue skies, new snow, sparkles everywhere. New snow makes the world seem fresh again.

The top of our Christmas tree. All flocked outside.
Crabapples
Maple seeds
Dry grass
Yarrow
Serviceberry and Patterson mountain
Mt Robinson and Goat Peak
Thee Isabella’s
Lookout Mtn
Six years dead and still standing. All of the others have fallen or broken.
Someone is due for a haircut.
Some Canada Geese flew overhead

Gray Morning Walk

Some days a person has to look harder to find the beauty.

Fireworks

Last night, Winthrop hosted its annual fireworks show for Christmas at the End of the Road. It was the only event of the weekend that did not get cancelled due to covid. We stayed home for the first time in thirteen years. I love the cold weather fireworks but with the very real threat of covid, I felt that it was a poor idea for the town to hold the event and I was not willing to risk it. They asked that spectators stay in their cars and I hope they did.

It came as a surprise to me that we could see and hear them from here! I guess we should have realized that. All these years, we have been leaving the dogs home so that they would not be bothered by them. Little did we know, they could see them too. This morning there were at least two reports of dogs gone missing during the show but I think both were reunited with their families.

They were not as large and impressive as being in town and there was a thin cloud in between here and town. It made the show a little more interesting.