Winter means finding a meal is hard so this Sharp-shinned Hawk spent time scoping out the bird feeders last week. They didn’t find food that time.
Tag Archives: winter
Since Sky started her new med for arthritis in November, she has become more tolerant of Willow, even playful! She doesn’t have the energy of the young dog but sometimes they have a lot of fun together. I made these photos on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Willow sprained her toe so they are not supposed to play for a while. Can you explain that to Willow who is seventeen months old?
A week ago, I joined a friend for a snowshoe adventure. I am not fond of snowshoeing but living in a place with a long winter, a person needs lots of ways to get out and enjoy the snow. I managed to trip myself up more than once and I was quite tired when we were done but still, it was so lovely and a great day to be out. Now the highway is closed and we won’t see this area again til next May or June.
The snow has a frozen crust and it’s easy to walk across the top of it. This is great because much of our road is covered in ice and treacherous for walking. Yesterday, the girls and I walked to the top of the hill. We haven’t been there in many months. The views are outstanding and sometimes we get to see coyote or deer but not yesterday. We did see new survey markers and new fencing with new ‘no trespassing’ signs along it. A bunch of the land up there is for sale or has already sold so we can expect changes in the future. Change is inevitable.
Speaking of change, Willow looks more and more like a dog but still has a puppy brain. Sky says she is an alligator and maybe we should return her! Willow is quite playful and Sky has never been playful so sometimes the puppy is a bit much. Willow adores Sky and wants to do everything she does, plus have lots of fun. She does stay close and mostly comes when called. We have many training opportunities with her.
We enjoyed the sunshine and cold temperatures and endless views. We also noted that some of the deciduous trees and shrubs STILL have last year’s leaves. Most notably, serviceberry (or Saskatoon), aspen and elderberry. Some of the aspen trees’ buds are already swelling so the leaves need to go!
It’s Christmas Bird Count (CBC) season. Last week, I joined three other birders and one dog to count the birds in southern Okanogan County. Winter came early and it seems that many birds left for places where they can find food more easily. I’ve done this count many times before and have never seen so much snow. One of our counters broke trail with snowshoes but it was still a slog. Lucky for us, it was not too cold with the temperature hovering around freezing and endless blue skies! While we did not see a lot of bird life, we did enjoy studying tracks in the snow and wondering about the tales those tracks told. We saw lots of beaver sign and watched one across the river. There were many bobcat tracks too. Our favorite unexpected bird species was a small group of Chukars!
At the end of the day we had 38 bird species for our section of the count. Last year, with just two of us counting, we had 56 species in the same area.
My Everyday Photos 