Winter wonderland

Another day below zero with clear blue skies. While crossing the bridge over Shingle Creek I stopped to listen to an owl and realized it wasn't far away. I figured if I could find him and get at least one photo, it would break my slump of having never spotted one on a bright sunny day. After trudging through 20 inch snow drifts towards the hooting, I realized a shorter path would be to just walk right on top of the creek. As I cautiously crept over the frozen water towards him, a second owl perched lower in the same tree soared out quickly. Soon the other followed and I was left half way down the creek with nothing to show for it. Having gone all this way I stopped to take in the new scenery I normally don't see. Two deer came bouncing out of nowhere and followed down the creek like it was a highway made just for them. After hiking all the way back to the path I actually got one more chance as I just barely noticed this motionless grey blob in some thick trees. It turned out to be a Barred Owl -the first one I've seen at Palmer Lake. A little further along I glanced towards the house where I'd seen the big group of deer earlier. Sure enough there was one there but to my surprise it was a six-point buck -a rare sight as of late. Back on the south side the frayed cattails were "glowing" against the low winter sun.

Cold New Years Day

Was 7º below zero on new years day 2010 but I still made it around the park. With the temps this low, all the snow we got over Christmas isn't going anywhere. In places the snowbanks are two to three feet deep. Again, walking was very loud so I didn't think I'd see many deer. Just before the bridge on the north side though, I spotted two of them walking way off in the distance. They were too far for a photo and as I was putting my camera away I noticed three more laying down in the snow. I don't know how they can lay in the cold snow like that. I thought maybe it conserves their energy better that way. Even though I was making lots of noise, and fairly close, they seemed content on just staying put. Some time after I saw a somewhat larger bird with a flash of red land way up in a tree. It made an unfamiliar noise so I zoomed in as quick as I could and got this one shot before he was gone. After looking it up in our bird guide I'm pretty sure it's a Red-Bellied Woodpecker.

Christmas snowstorm aftermath

The Christmas snowstorm of 2009 has dumped over a foot of snow followed by a nice freezing rain on top of it, making for a tough -and very loud- walk today. I doubted I'd see any deer as they'd hear me coming a mile away, and I was right. The only thing that stuck out of the white scenery was this Cardinal. Since there was really nothin' else to see today I tried again to capture some snowflakes where the path was covered with interesting looking ice crystals. Don't think my camera is completely cut out for this close of a shot but I'm gonna keep tryin. On the west side I noticed that the recent heavy snows have just squashed large areas of cattails creating new views of the lake that did not exist before.

Wednesday Owls and Deer

I recently heard that an owl's eyes actually focus better in low light. Must be true as I've only ever seen them at Palmer Lake on dark and dreary winter days. For the past week or so I've been keeping my own eyes upwards hoping to spot one. Today right off the bat I noticed a Great Horned perched relatively low to the ground in some birch trees. Man he was big. Shortly after I started walking more briskly in an attempt to warm up a little when I came right up on a group of five deer. My fast pace apparently spooked them and they scattered quickly until I slowed up. When I did, a few of them came back around. I'm positive this is the same fawn from yesterday and probably the same mother doe always along side. On the opposite side of the park I spotted yet another Great Horned Owl, though this one was slightly smaller and much more rust-colored -especially in the face. Look how far his neck is turned.