Bird Nerds

Skies broke crisp and blue again today. We all got an early morning start.... following our neighbourhood's Official Bird Nerd out into the bird sanctuary south of town. I will have to get back to you with the name of the place. He knows all the good birding sites...we were looking for owls. Short-eared Owls, to be specific. It was SO BEAUTIFUL out there that I forgot we were looking for birds.

See them out there looking for birds while I am photographing ice crystals? They kept stopping and waiting for me to catch up.

They had to wait for me a lot.

It's the first sun we've seen in weeks and weeks. Though it was crispy cold and my fingers ached, I couldn't get enough of it. The long grey days have had me down, diluting my spirit as well as the colour of my eyes. What a gift the past few days have been.

So we walked through frozen rushes and ice-crusted wetlands, breathing the cold air into our lungs, tasting the melting frost and savoring the sunshine on our ruddy cheeks.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah and thank you.

Oh yeah....we were bird-watching. Right? Heheh, I forgot again.

Did I mention that we saw some birds while we were out? You know, because we were out there looking for birds, in case I didn't mention. Swans galore. This was my telephoto lens set to it's greatest capacity. Not so awe-inspiring, but it's alright. You get the idea, right? These were just a few of them.

Hey, you two!!!! Look up! Look up!!!! Someone is watching you watching birds.

Funny that we were being watched, too, isn't it?

We DID see a Short-eared Owl, but he was not the least bit interested in letting me get close enough for a photo, though the two photographers out there with the lenses as big as Eem-er probably got some good shots. Momentarily, I was jealous of them but I know that I am in this for the walks anyway. The photos are just the bonus.
Thanks, Bird Nerd, for the tour...ever the great bird guide. Your excitement is contagious and I like that none of my questions were too lame...you just answered them like they are the most well-thought-out questions. When are we going again?!?

There are lots more photos. I will be posting them to the Flickr site as soon as I know the name of the bird sanctuary.

peace