It's actually Thanksgiving now, so Happy Thanksgiving! I wish you well with all the food and family. Today I am thankful for the foxes: A couple more pictures are in the Gallery.
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Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
This year we decided to go to the cabin for Thanksgiving. We came up yesterday and are planning to stay until Friday. My brother is here as well, having come home from College! He's leaving on Sunday. So far we have had our first taste of snow! It's just a skiff, but it's still pretty. Here is one of our younger foxes: Although our first instincts is to say "poor little bird!", I have about 5 billion House Sparrows hanging out in my yard, and I need a hawk to help diminish their population.
Saturday was a great day! We relaxed all morning, and then in the afternoon we went birding. Surprisingly enough, I found some Barrow's Goldeneyes, previously mislabeled as Commons. I still haven't found those Common Goldeneyes, and what's surprising is that Barrow's are much less Common of the two Goldeneyes! After a while of watching them, we spotted a Great Blue Heron sitting nearby! Unfortunately, my camera battery died about then, so my pictures of the Heron aren't very good. We returned to the cabin, had dinner, and spent some time with the foxes. What does the fox say? Now we know!
After that, we watched the stars for a while, since there's a meteor shower this weekend, and managed to see one shooting star.
Today we packed up and headed home. Overall, the weekend was absolutely incredible! Yet again, I am at my cabin! So far I've had a wonderful time. Yesterday, on the drive up, I saw a Rough-legged Hawk, my first of the season, flying over the Sake River Canyon! When we (me and my mom) neared our cabin, we spotted two more Rough-legged Hawks, one adult female and another younger female! A very neat experience. I managed to snap my best pictures of one: As soon as we reached the cabin and unloaded the car, we drove to Stanley Lake. It will probably be the last weekend to be able to reach the lake before the snow hits. On the way there, I spotted a Coyote jumping around behind a bush. I decided to take a video instead of pictures, since he was so cute!
Then we arrived at the Lake. Unfortunately, I dipped on the Common Goldeneyes I've been looking for; they come here for the winter, so it's unfortunate the lake is closed then. What I did see, however, is a bird I wasn't at all expecting: a yearbird Common Loon! Believe it or not, this is my best picture of one: While there, I saw a flock of Western Grebes which were calling. They have to have one of my favorite bird sounds! While enjoying them, I spotted a few smaller ducks among them. Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be Ruddy Ducks! I have had incredible luck with those beautiful birds this year. Unfortunately, they were all so far away that my pictures are not worth sharing. I also spotted several Buffleheads, which have to be one of the cutest ducks I've ever seen! Again, they were so far away the pics aren't good at all. When we returned to the cabin, it wasn't long before 3 foxes showed up! While 2 of them were quite frightened by us, one was extremely tame. I was able to get so close to him, and finally he ate out of my hand!
It was an incredible experience. I am so very blessed to be able to see the foxes up so close!
Today, I'm going to try at the Common Goldeneyes again, and maybe see some other birds as well! |
Youtube:The first Kestrel chick fed!
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