Eastern Screech Owl

During my drives through Old Reid and CJ Brown, I routinely check any crevices and knot holes in trees...particularly in Sycamore Trees. Every once in a while I get lucky and find a roosted owl; usually an Eastern Screech Owl. 
Friday's drive was no exception, and I was excited to spot a Gray-Morph Eastern Screech Owl snuggled into the top of a Sycamore. 

Ice Pillars

 A cool and rarely seen phenomenon from early this morning. Caught by our security cams at 6am this morning. "Light pillars" (also called "Ice Pillars") form when light from a source (such as the sun, moon, or streetlights) reflects off the horizontal surfaces of millions of tiny, plate-shaped ice crystals that are suspended in the air. These crystals act like tiny mirrors, directing the light rays toward the observer's eyes.

Buck Creek State Park Nature Center

Good intentions, but no cooperation from the weather.
That describes this morning.
I had intentions of photographing the Full Wolf Moon setting over the CJ Brown Reservoir, but the overcast skies obscured the view.
Instead, I opted for some shots of the Buck Creek State Park Nature Center in the early morning light. 

Goodbye 2025!

Our most-viewed images from Facebook and Instagram for 2025. 
A happy, healthy and productive New Year to all!!

Great Blue Heron on a frosty fall morning.

Coyote hunting in the snow

Snowy Owl at Buck Creek State Park

March Full Lunar Eclipse composite 

Dragonhunter Dragonfly

Turtle "Jenga"

Buck Creek views

Aurora from CJ Brown Visitor's Center

Common Loon

Short-Eared Owl incoming

 

Winter Birds

 Some looks from our drive at Old Reid and Buck Creek State Park yesterday.

Cardinal Palooza! The Cardinals were feasting on Goldenrod seed pods.

Northern Cardinal

Horned lark

Horned Larks

Horned Lark

Great Blue Heron

Immature Bald Eagle

Veterans Day Auroras

So....we met our friends Bert and Mary Ann at CJ Brown hoping to catch a glimpse of the aurora tonight and we weren't disappointed.

When we arrived, the cloud cover was still fairly thick, but even so we were getting peeks at auroras behind them. It was beautiful!

As the clouds moved out, the aurora began to pop...colors were awesome and we watched until our feet were numb from the cold and wind.

Meanwhile, I had set our security cams to record time lapses and one caught this buck in the aurora skies.

November Full Moon

The Full Beaver Moonrise tonight from our upstairs. The full moon is actually at 8am tomorrow, so either tonight or tomorrow night are effectively both full moonrises. Tonight's was partially obscured by clouds on the horizon, but once it cleared the cloud cover the moon was gorgeous. This is a super moon....meaning that the moon it's at the closest to the earth in its orbit. The November Full Moon is most commonly called the Beaver Moon" which refers to the time when beavers were most active in building their dams and lodges before winter. It was also the best time for early colonists and Native Americans to trap beavers for their pelts.

And a couple from moonset this morning.