December 20, 2012 - A Day for the Birds

A coot on Casey Pond - what's it eating?

The island of the white pelicans (plus others...)

Northern Harrier - female, out hunting

Another warm and windy day today - plenty of blue sky, plenty of clouds, and lots of birds huddled together to stay out of the weather.  (Mostly at a considerable distance from me!)  Then the harrier flew right next to my car.  I almost didn't stop - how often do you get the opportunity to stop the car, change the lens, and open the window.  And there she hovered...hanging in the sky, searching the ground, looking for brunch.  We see many of these, especially in winter - but it's always a joy to see them, to watch them hover, to note the striking difference in coloration between the sexes.  (The males are grey.)  By this evening, the sky was covered with huge black clouds that reminded me of spring storms.  No rain yet...but it is probably on the way, maybe even with some snow for Christmas!