12/21/2019 - 12/22/2019
After a good week of cold temperatures and a decent snow, we headed into a warmer than usual weekend. Everything is melting and turning to mud. If you know me, you know mud is one of my least favorite things.
I mostly birded locally; hitting the old-standby, Eagle Creek Park. But I did make a run Sunday evening down to Somerville Mines. I got to Somerville about an hour and a half before sunset. I drove around a bit but did not find any cooperative subjects. There were the usual Red-tailed Hawks and Kestrels. I had an amazing dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk that I would have loved to photograph. There were also good numbers of Northern Harrier; including some adult male "gray ghosts". The Short-eared Owl came out about an hour before sunset. They mostly stayed about a half mile out over the fields. I had a couple decent fly-bys, but shot opportunities were limited. Still, they are amazing, and I love to see them whenever I get a chance.
I had much better luck at Eagle Creek the two mornings I was there. Not much to say about the place. There are a couple seed piles there to shoot at, but I spend most of my time walking the fields and hoping to get something different. The seed piles are more productive.
I did get a shot of a lovely Fox Sparrow, which made me pretty happy. I do love sparrows.
I'm off work until after the beginning of the year. I'm hoping to make it out for photos most days. We will see what the weather and luck bring.
Thanks for reading,
Mike