Little Eloise with a Smile

Last weekend Sarah and AJ and Eloise visited. Poor little Eloise (and Sarah and Grammie Terry) had a bad sinus cold and she had a very hard time breathing and eating. All we could do was hold her and feel sorry for her... and cuddle her... She was in a miserable state ... and then just 15 minutes before they left we sat down to see if we could get a good picture of her ... and here you have it...

We were all quite surprised - as it no way shows how miserable she felt all weekend. Just goes to show you that all you need is a smile from a bay to make your heart feel good... and at the same time - all you need is to hear her difficulty breathing and you feel so helpless... but she pulled through - probably one of many over the next couple of years. Grammie does have that special talent to make her smile and she has the talent to make many people smile ...

Snowy in the sun

While I enjoyed shooting my first snowy on the way home from work -it was a little late in the day and the sky was cloudy - tough light... so on my first opportunity with bright sunshine and blue sky, I gave up the last weekend of Eagle Watch to see if I could find a snowy in the middle of the day... which I haven't had luck at ... yet...  So I showed up - camera and Allie  (my puppy) ... and I spied one a long ways off on the top of a tree - just enjoying the sunshine... so I pulled over in the parking lot to see if it really was one. Took one long distance shot and zoomed in 500x or so in the viewer  - that's how far he was away - and sure enough - it was one... So I watched for a minute and then he took off from that perch - flew right towards me and then veered off a bit and landed right on the edge of the dunes between the parking lot and the beach !!! So out of the truck I get and scoot on over to where I can see a bit more... He took off from that perch and flew directly at me - then dropped down to the ground and dug through the snow. I didn't see if he nabbed anything - but he may have swallowed before I got him back in my sights - so here he is ...

Up and back to the perch ...

This one is my favourite and will probably make it to the office as a 12x18...

 I stood and watched for about 45 minutes ... and without wanting to disturb him I was patiently waiting for my last chance at a "take-off and cruise"... I was just about to give up the hunt but I said - just 5 more minutes - he's going to move at some point ... I call this time span "overtime" and stuck it out. Out of the corner of my eye - you can only look through the viewfinder for so long... I noticed a small dog moving toward the owl - with his walker - they didn't see the owl - but alas - my patience paid off as my heart skipped a beat - getting ready - It was sooooo nice knowing that I was going to get my shot, rather than the typical "heart attack - there he goes!!!" and he was probably going to head my way ... and whamm - off he took...

 

He landed on top of a pole right at the highway - so I drove over there - it was on the way home - pulled off on a side road and walked back right up and under him - he wasn't perturbed. He must be used to a lot of walkers by now, I guess, and so I ended up with my snowy in blue sky from about 12 feet or so... 

 Nice to see what happens when you "show up", and are patient (waiting through the "overtime"). I was very conscious about disturbing him - after all - he is looking for food - life and death stuff. Even having him watch me as a distraction started to bother me - distracted from watching for food ... but then along came the dog and walker and moved him for me ... I guess he has to get used to living near people like we have to get used to living near wildlife ... That's the thought for today ... Lots of fun...

Here are our grandchildren: Our youngest Eloise - born New Year's Eve:

 

Adeline Josephine (I call her AJ) just had her 2nd birthday last weekend).

                                    

Here's Holden (Nov 20) as the Lone Ranger...

 

Holden listening intently to one of Grammie's stories...

Holden having a laugh .. it is real and if you don't believe me ...



Here he is almost laughing his head off:

 



This is Norah (4) - holding cousin Eloise....

... and Norah at AJ's birthday party...

 

We are sooo proud of our family ... all 10 of us ...Lindsay Ryan, Norah, Holden, Sarah, Chad, AJ, and Eloise... and the dogs Allie, Rocky and Wally ...

Soaring on a blue sky and a Rough Legged Hawk - up close...

After Friday's success with the snowy, and the weather being very nice - I headed down to see if I could see him with a blue sky and when the weather was warm... No luck - but I did get an immature eagle soaring on the breeze:

 and then a Rough Legged Hawk happened on me - and landed at the top of a spruce tree - and then stayed around until I could get these pics:

 

He looks very brown here with wings collapsed and then when he took off the predominantly white body showed up:

 

Pretty awesome for a few minutes...