Fog Magic

 The weather that just keeps on giving.

I feel like the past week has been full of beautiful surprises.  

A snowstorm, an ice storm, extreme cold, and now intense fog, which will be followed by rain. A lot of rain.

That means the dry runs will fill with water and run over the boulders into the valleys.

This guy/gal stopped by for an hour or so. I've been seeing Baldies this week. This one perched close to the house so I kept Charlie inside mostly because he is no bigger than a cat.

It looks like this Eagle had been doing some scavenging, his/her head feathers were pretty dirty.

The fog promised to hang around all day so I decided to go out and see the forest and perhaps I'd get lucky and see something interesting.

The fog was like a light mist. Enough to think about, but not enough to avoid. The water droplets on tree branches at the edge of the forest were beautiful.

I found these tiny fruits on a sapling scrub apple tree.

And then I stood still and listened. I heard birds, but couldn't really tell where they were. Once I spotted them I was so pleased. I didn't have my good zoom lens on so I walked a bit closer and stood still.

They were feasting on Honeysuckle berries. I used arrows for them because they are so hard to see. There were more of them, but I couldn't get them all in frame.

I did manage to get just a tiny bit closer without scaring them off. Finally, one little bird! And I don't know if anyone can see it, but he has a berry in his mouth.

I don't know what it is about fog that makes me smile. Maybe it is the hush it seems to bring over the forest or perhaps it is because no one likes to go out in it because it is dull and yucky looking.

I don't thing it truly is. Fog is one of Nature's Ways of creating Art. 

Maybe we just have to be able to see it to appreciate it.

Christmas Surprise!

Charlie and I went for a hike in the forest. We eventually wandered down to the first valley and the creek bottom.

Part of the way down the very steep hill.... I thought I heard some birds squeaking out soft calls.

When we got to the creek, I stood still and let my eyes wander through the brambles and trees.

I thought I spotted a Blue jay, but to my surprise. It was a Blue Bird! I called Charlie to me and we both sat in the snow and watched the surrounding woods. More Blue Birds! I counted at least 20 of them.

While standing in the creek [water proof boots], I carefully scanned the thick brush. There was another bird I could just barely see across the creek.

It looked like a sparrow but the markings were different from the ones I see in the yard. If I have my ID right, it should be a white throated sparrow. 

When I got home, I looked this bird up and listened to its song.  I do hear this bird in the spring and they are very hard to spot. 

This bird wasn't singing, it was landing in the creek area and seeking food.

Such a well camouflaged bird!

This was cropped rather tight... hard to spot! But he is there and very hard to distinguish from the leaves.

And then there was this guy....

The birds left the area with Charlie trotting through, so I decided to go home and feed lunch to the hubby and come back out later in the afternoon. I carried a small camp stool to sit on so I wouldn't get soaking wet sitting on the ground or on logs.

This Acrobat was the first one I saw on the edge of the woods before I headed down towards the creek for the second time. 
Red Bellied Woodpecker? Right?

It was near the one of the springs that I settled down to wait. I could hear the Blue Birds, Chickadees, and Nuthatches in the area. So I thought I'd just sit and wait.

Some 20 minutes or so later, the birds came back to the area. 

The Blue Birds put on a delightful show.

I stayed there until the sun started to exit from the valley, then I climbed up and out of the valley and rerouted my hike to go through the large meadow towards home. I didn't get any shots, but I watched as a Baldie got chased by crows.

My afternoon hike was more of a ... few steps... stop ... listen .... walk a bit more .... stop ...listen and look around.

Even more fun. I unfolded the camp stool and sat in the warm afternoon sun and just watched the Meadow.

Even in places you don't think there is anything interesting, one can find something intriguing to look at.

It was a fine Christmas Day. What could be more perfect?

Eagle Watching

I did all of my errands Thursday morning that included picking up groceries, Charlie Food, and visiting the meat locker.

Phew. My purchases were expensive. It was a $200 day.  I noted that most gas stations were again in the process of changing their prices. This week it has floated up .10 a gallon and dropped .10 a gallon. 

It rained hard off and on all day with thunderstorms in the early morning and then again midday. The temperatures spiked with humid, muggy, and warm conditions at 68 degrees just before dark. 

I was worried about the sudden drop of temperatures to 28 overnight and how it would effect Mica our elderly grey mule who is prone to colic when there are wild temperature swings. 

However this morning, all of the equine kids are running, bucking, and farting. Fred, the eldest is pretty stoic. He is giving evil ears to anyone who bumps into him.

This is their typical winter morning routine anyway. Run, buck, and chase each other at dawn. 

All is good with the equine. The youngest mule is out chasing crows in the winter pasture. I wish I had that kind of energy at 6am!

Yesterday afternoon we had a visitor. We often get eagles flying or roosting in trees not too far way but this one was not far out the back door. The eagle carefully preened itself just before the storms hit. 

I grabbed my camera and stepped out into the yard and tried to take photos of it. It was hard to figure out what settings to use. The eagle appeared as a dark blob against a very bright grey sky.

Thankfully I have learned a few tricks over the years. I shoot RAW with my Oly -- [now called OM] -- and sometimes it can help save some of the information that the camera sees. In this case, I brightened the exposure and the shadows. 
The eagle at this point was just hanging out and preening.

Eventually the other birds noticed the eagle and a few Blue Jays decided to harass him. He was rather non-pulsed over it. I didn't catch it, but the eagle snapped at the Blue Jay when he got too close.

The Jay eventually sat in another tree and called out the eagle's presence to everyone else.

I had to move inside and shoot through the glass door when the rains came down hard.

Here, the eagle just looks ticked off at the pounding rain. When it let up, he/she just shook.

Soon the crows started to annoy the eagle. I've seen crows actually chase eagles before so I was really curious as to what would happen.

The eagle literally ignored them and they didn't actually dive bomb him at all. I figured the eagle would take off and fly away.

After hanging out for three hours, the eagle spread its wings and...

took off.

I'd waited for hours for this opportunity to 'shoot' him/her taking off. He landed in another tree close by and I was able to move to the porch and take one last shot as he left the second tree.

I was so tickled to have been able to watch this eagle from the comfort of my back door. And to observe him for hours. 

It was the highlight of the day.