Moonlit Walk

This past Saturday evening, Patty and I led the monthly Moonlight Walk at Whitesbog. Our friend Tom usually leads these excursions, but he was not available.*

It was a small turnout, in addition to the two of us, only four folks, and one dog, took part. I've been on walks with over thirty participants. Maybe it they heard Tom would not be there? Or maybe the rain earlier in the day discouraged many.

One unusual feature of this month's walk was that we actually saw the moon! More often than not when we go the moon doesn't show, hiding behind clouds. Not this time, although you can see it tried.

A rare event, and everyone wanted a record of it!

I had pointed out the 22° halo around the moon (of course I did). If you look closely you can see the halo on the phone screen in the previous image. Surprisingly, it was a new phenomena for all of them. I say surprisingly as my Mom told me of lunar halos, and the folk wisdom that they foretold rain, when I was a just a wee lad.

🌕  🌕  🌕  🌕  🌕

Before the walk we did a bit of scouting, and birding, 

It looks very different than when dark.

Along the road and in these woods we had Timberdoodles. And in the bogs Ring-necked, Rudy, and Red-headed Ducks. During the walk we had Tundra Swans, noisily flying in to roost in the bogs for the night.

All around it turned out to be a very nice evening.

🤕  🤕  🤕  🤕  🤕

* We've had a bit of a winter weather of late, snow and ice, and Tom slipped, fell, and broke his wrist. And because of this, he is unable to walk. 

Image Courtesy Terry Schmidt

No, I don't understand that either.

At least he looks happy.

Owl versus Harrier

The grasslands where the Short-eared Owls hunt is also the grasslands where Northern Harriers hunt. The two species occupy a similar niche, time shifted. The Harries hunt mainly be day, the Owls twilight to dark.

And there is a bit of time when they are both active.

Note the Harrier's perch.

We watched as the Owls repeatedly buzzed the Harriers. 

In coming ...

... final approach ...

... but the Harriers seemed largely nonplused (new meaning). 

The "Battle of the Perch" lasted several rounds.

The Owl making several runs past the Harrier.

For the most part, the Harrier held its own. 

Eventually though, it had had enough, and flew off, perhaps to hunker down for the night.

And the Owl got the perch. Although it does seem the are perches enough for all.

While the Bald Eagles remained above the fray the whole time. 

Meanwhile, in The Back of the Yard

Before we went to see the owls, I went out back to see if the Swamp Sparrow had returned.

It had not.

But this critter was scurrying about by the back pond.

Another Timberdoodle. Very cool. And once again upstaging the sparrow.

~~~~~~~~~~

As we returned home from owning, another (the same?) Timberdoodle was in our front yard, at the end of the driveway, feeding a bare patch of ground.

That was Monday. On Tuesday evening there were perhaps as many as five Woodcock in the yard. 

And that's a good thing.

Look Up In the Sky

It's a ...

Crepuscular Ray?

Contrail?

I don't really know.

I first thought it was a crepuscular ray, cool as it was alone in the sky. It was aligned with the setting sun, and expanded in the right direction. But one I looked close it seemed more contrail like, the way it suddenly expands for one thing.

An atmospheric mystery (my money's on contrail).

Or A Closer Owl ...

In the second Stakeout post I lamented the distance to the owls, stating my need for a longer lens.

Well I've not yet acquired such a lens.

So I waited for a closer owl.

And last evening we were rewarded when this Short-eared Owl perched on the side of the road. 

After a few perched shots I waited. I knew that birds go before they go, to lighten the load.

When it went before it went I was ready at the shutter release, and rewarded with these images of it heading back out on its arial prowl.

Good hunting.

Shelter from the Storm

 A perhaps somewhat smarter Junco?

This bird took refuge amongst the rocks defining the waterfall of the fish pond during a recent storm.

Looking aghast at the crazy bathing bird?

Polar Bird Club

This is one view from the desk in my home office.

 Of our fish pond, which is covered with ice.  

On top of which is a pool of rainwater.

And in that rainwater is a Dark-eyed Junco taking a bath.

As per my weather station, it is 32.9° F out there today.

This was the only bird I saw taking advantage of the impromptu bird bath.

I wonder why?

Meanwhile, Back at the Yard

I've noted that I'm working from home. And will be until at least April. So I decided to put bird feeders outside my home office window. 

After returning form the unsuccessful search for the Longspur, I made this hanging platform feeder with materials left over from other projects. 

Some adjustments needed methinks ...

But that's not what this post is about.

It is about this bird. An irregular visitor to the yard.

A Swamp Sparrow.

I had gone out to our back 'quonset hut' to look for materials for the platform feeder. And on the way back I spotted "an interesting sparrow", as I told Patty as I got my bins, now defogged, and she grabbed a camera.

This would have been the Yard Bird of the Day except for ...

Yard Bird of the Day

Every year about this time we start standing out on the deck at dusk, listening for "peents", the call of the male American Woodcock. And every year we hear them. This year is no different, at least to birds, and sure enough the peenting has commenced.

But not last evening. Perhaps it was too cold (it was for us!).

Although  they still need to eat.

And food equals worms. And to find them, they need a bare patch of ground.

They stick that long bill all the way down into the mud.

And it just so happens that just outside our living room windows is such a bare patch.

For reasons that must have made sense at the time, the outlet pipe for the sump pump in our crawl space is outside our living room. And the bare patch traces the path of the pipe, which discharges into our rain garden.

The corner of the house that it comes out of, is diagonally opposite of where the pump is. This is literally (original sense of the word) the farthest point from the pump.

And we are happy they choose the point as we now have Timberdoodle as a living room bird.

It actually came to close to photograph.

Crazy.

When Given Lemons ...

... write a blog post.

This past Saturday there was a report of a Lapland Longspur at the PPA, just a few miles from our place. This would be a life bird for our other friend Terry (seen with the binoculars in this post). And as good friends we went to help her find it, hidden, as it were, amongst five hundred or so Horned Lark and a large but smaller number of Snow Bunting, with a few Meadowlark sprinkled in (at any other time we'd be quite happy to see those birds, but today they were just a distraction, and in the way). 

Spoiler Alert: We did not find it.

But that's not what this post is about.

Nope it is about Thin Film Interference.

You see, my bins had fogged up. On the inside. At the center of the objective lens. Highly non-optimal for birding.

So while our small group was standing in a cold windy field scanning for a small bird in a large expanse, I was admiring the curious color pattern preventing me from joining in the fun.

After an hour and a half we gave up and headed home. And once there my bins promptly cleared up. A good thing as they would be needed later in the day.

As far as I know, Terry is still out there looking ...

~~~~~~~~~~

Update: We went back Sunday morning. Terry was there. Patty spotted the bird, after an hour and a half or so of scanning the field. Alas they flew before Terry could get a look.

I'm sure she'll be back.

And my bins fogged up again. Thankfully, they cleared before we left.

Stakeout

This post was how it looked Saturday evening when we were staking out the Owls. 

This is how it looked on Friday.

In the Before Times we'd all be clustered, searching together. 

Now, spaced, people half a car length apart, cars with several spaces between.

Together and apart at the same time.

Hide and Seek

I blogged about the Virginia Opossum on our deck and how if forced us to rethink our old cat food disposal method.  Short Version: We no longer dispose of it with the litter.

The other evening we returned home after dark, and as we approached the back door the broom fell down. Something we thought odd at the time. But is was cold and we didn't investigate.

A bit later that evening I went outside to get a beer. And heard something rustling around.

The Opossum was back. And quite frightened of me. So it tried to hide under the broom.

And when I moved the broom it continued to play possum. 

I took a couple of shots with my phone, grabbed a beer. and went back inside. 

When I went out for another beer Oppie was gone.