What an odd January, at sunset the earth shadow moved in, it was being reflected onto the ice, that pink! Earth’s shadow (or Earth shadow) is the shadow that Earth itself casts through its atmosphere and into outer space, toward the antisolar point. Nature at work… Ice finally filled in at the far end of the lake! I did see someone putting an ice fishing tent/hut out there, it just froze two days ago…□…could be Darwin Awards in the making! □ It is so slippery out there a deer crossing the ice wouldn’t stand a chance against a pack of coyotes. I could just make out the eagles and ravens and it’s body. That was fast! Later in the day I noticed another deer down, on the ice, halfway down the lake. When Mike came back I drove out, a single juvenile, probably one of this years babies, was sitting in the old tree, not sure if he wanted to take the ravens and crows on! That look! So intense, what a beautiful bird! The next day I walked out, the only thing that remained of the deer was it’s backbone, everything else had been dragged off, eaten and picked clean. With the snow you can follow the deer tracks up and down the road, followed by coyote and fox as well, it’s the path of least resistance! No passing now! It’s a one lane track, starting to look like a luge run! I’m hoping he is hanging out by Round Lake. Hopefully they made it home, Darwin awards all around. So far the deer are sticking to the shoreline, no one wants to cross! What dock? I saw a snowmobile track this morning, some fool of a Took must have done a spin late yesterday, or this morning…0_0. I knew I should have shoveled the steps down! I could have bounced off each one, like a cartoon character it was so icy, I made it part way down before abandoning my trajectory! Screw this, let ‘er melt! I think I pulled a muscle sliding around, crap. The deer have stuck very close to the shore to nibble on the cedars. I did attempt a walk down to the canoe…my ice cleats popped off in the deep snow as I struggled to find my previous footprints. They often store food for later by impaling their prey on spines or barbed wire, earning the nickname “butcher birds.” One other photographer said to look for them around Hawthorn bushes, where they can impale their prey! Tough guys these! You never know what you might see if you sit quietly and wait… they often kill more prey than they need at one time, but they don’t let it go to waste. Shrikes are rare among songbirds for their lifestyle of hunting and eating animals. Known as a “tomial tooth,” this feature allows them to kill prey with a quick bite to the neck. Shrikes have a toothlike spike on either side of the upper bill and a corresponding notch on either side of the lower mandible. No wonder the Chickadees and Goldfinches disappeared so quickly, small bird is on the menu! Groot was not impressed! His birds he said! A bold black mask on the adults and stout, hooked bill heighten the impression of danger in these fierce little predators. The bird is a pint-sized predator of birds, small mammals, and insects. I was wondering why the Blue Jays were chasing this bird away, thought it might be a Northern Mockingbird at first glance through the branches but as he returned I could see it was an Immature Northern Shrike.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |