Not enough snow for skiing but cold enough that a person needs to wear warm clothes. The dogs don’t seem to mind. Few birds around. I did see my first of the season Northern Shrike. Also Black-billed Magpie, Mountain Chickadees, Common Raven, Northern Flicker and Red-tailed Hawk.
This ponderosa pine tree was severely burned in the Carlton Complex wildfire in 2014 and it is still alive and even vigorous. It has the remains of a metal notice indicating that it was an official bearing tree, marking an old survey line. I wonder if anyone even uses these bearing trees anymore since many people have some form of a GPS in their pockets?
Trees are amazing.
Luna and I drove into the lower Rendezvous yesterday in hopes of maybe spotting a Snowy Owl. Again, no luck finding Bubo scandiacus but we did see a variety of raptors including a Golden Eagle, female Northern Harrier, two American Kestrels and a few Red-tailed Hawks. Near town there was a Northern Shrike hunting from a powerline.
After the owl-less drive, we stopped at Riser Lake to stretch our legs and see what else we could find. The lake is almost entirely frozen over and the little bit of open water held a pair of Mallards til they realized we were going to walk around the lake. They took off and then returned before we left. The only other birds were Northern Flickers, a couple of Black-capped Chickadees and a lone Bohemian Waxwing.
It was a good day for a walk with a little bit of crusty snow and no precipitation. Luna is still nursing a sore back so she doesn’t have the energy to run like she always has in the past. It seems harder for her to jump in the car and she sleeps more than usual.
Abandoned fruit trees indicate that people once attempted to make a living off the land in these arid hills.
The colorful fruit is welcomed by the wintering birds, especially the waxwings.
Thin ice
Frozen in time
What thing doesn’t belong in this photo?
Interesting low-growing plant on top of the hill overlooking the lake
And one lone pine tree too
Whose nest? It is about ten feet off the ground. Seems low for a Common Raven but what else would use a nest so large?
I found pears, but no partridges
My Everyday Photos 