Northern Pygmy Owl

We had heard the tooting of the Northern Pygmy Owl in the woods near us in previous winters but had little luck seeing one. This year our luck changed. These small owls are only about 6.5 inches long and perch many in conifer trees. Their main prey are small songbirds and unlike many owls hunt mainly in the day. We watched this bird for quite awhile before they slowly turned their head and gave us a look only an owl can give seemingly saying “hey move along I’m hunting here”.

Chickadee’s of the forest beware.

On the bull kelp

yellow_rumped_bull_kelp

A tiny Yellow Rumped Warbler found the bull kelp a perfect perch for hunting sand flies and other small insects on the beach. This girl would quickly dart down form the kelp to snag a small meal and quickly return to her perch. Seeing her sitting on the head of the bull kelp made us realize just how small she was. We watched a documentary about songbirds the other night called The Messenger. Here is a link to the website http://songbirdsos.com
It is a very timely reminder about what a world without song birds would be like.

Winter Bunn 2022

Introducing Winter Bunn 2022.

Each winter we seem to have a single Rocky Mountain Cottontail that call our surroundings home. This year she makes an appearance every couple of days or so. Sometimes seeming right at home with us invading her surrounding. This day she munches away on the stalk of an old Holly Hock plant whist giving me the eye. Thus far she has seemed to avoid all those which would like to make her a meal and hopefully will make to spring to produce another batch of spunky young rabbits.

Sunshine

Thus far our winter has been more gray then sunny and much less snowy than we would like it. However looking out and seeing this Rocky Mountain Cottontail provided us that proverbial sunshine on a cloudy day and a smile to our faces.