Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Winter Interest

After a one day warm up, and snow melt, we are back to snow and cold weather. There are still lots of things to notice in the garden if one is easily amused like I am. Here a nice set of rodent tracks caught my attention.

I couldn't say if he was grey or brown, but with that long tail he's definitely not one of my favorite garden residents! EEK!

The  temperature is  in the teens and  this was a day for us to travel to the Y for our exercise in the pool. The roads were fine, but the river is already  getting lumpy with ice. Our trip was the usual until we headed for home. When we left the Y , there right next to the wall of pool was a Peregrine Falcon lunching on a grey pigeon. He was so close to the street that we got a fantastic look at this gorgeous bird. Ed turned around and did several drive-bys so I could get a really good look.  His head and beak shape, black cap and moustache, rufus and white chest, and sleek body, added to the fact that he was lunching on a pigeon, made his identification pretty certain. I checked my books when I returned home just to be sure. Part of me wished that I had the camera, but I'm sure if I did I would have just made him fly away and ruined his lunch. It was enough just to get such a close up look at this magnificent bird!

The big redtail hawk that I often see in the garden is bulky when compared to this sleek Peregrine Falcon. It's like the difference between a 747 and a fighter jet. I'm so glad I was fortunate enough to spot the bird. It made an ordinary trip something special to remember.
Just 7 days left!!!

3 comments:

Beth at PlantPostings said...

Eek is right! You captured some great photos that give us a real sense of your garden and surroundings.

Sunita Mohan said...

That is such an amazing set of photos, Becky! Was it frozen or just covered with snow?
Hmm... maybe you could persuade Mr. Falcon to start hunting in your garden too? On rodents this time.

Becky said...

The tracks were in the snow and quickly disappeared under the next layer. We have been getting some snow every day lately. It comes from being on the edge of the area that receives lake effect snow from the Great Lakes.