Monday was glorious with partly sunny skies and record-setting temperatures into the sixties. Gracie and I headed out with the car windows down and were greeted by the songs of migrating red-winged blackbirds, grackles, and robins. Noisy gulls filled vernal ponds. The best part was seeing one of my sandhill cranes return to its local habitat. And then yesterday… Sigh.
Fresh photography subjects are slim pickings this time of year. Still, the hunt sends me out, even in the misty gloom. On Friday morning, I saw sepia-colored wetlands on the thaw, watched a deer watch me, and spotted a pileated woodpecker and a bald eagle high in trees.
These last few days with sunshine and temperatures into the low fifties have boosted our winter-weary spirits. Snow is melting in the fields and around woodland trees, vernal ponds are forming from the melt, and mud is everywhere on the backroads. Only time will tell whether this spell was a teaser.
One of the simple pleasures of my morning is watching the sunrise from my bedroom window. No dramatic dunes or water, just my backyard of fields and trees. No fancy camera either, just my phone. Always grateful to start my day with such beauty.
On a cold and blustery morning earlier this week, I spotted a female snowy owl sheltering between two gables on a rooftop. She looked right at me with her piercing yellow eyes while her feathers ruffled in the fierce wind. Finally, after she’d had enough buffering, the snowy rose up and took off. I was excited to catch her in flight. She circled around and quickly landed on another part of the roof, allowing me another look at those eyes.
