Are you getting into the holiday spirit? The post office is. These are two of their windows that were decorated by Splash Art Murals.
SplashArtMurals can be seen through the link below:
https://splashart.biz/collections/all
Have a splendid Sunday!
It has been said that the layer of ice on top of the ground might make it harder for the owls and hawks to hunt. The past few days I understand the owls have been more active earlier in the day a few hours before sunset. The short-eared owls have been flying all over the place and making soft landings on various trees, bushes, rocks, etc.
All this activity makes a photographer or bird watcher happy. Usually sometime in March they leave for the Arctic. However, last year they stayed slightly longer than usual.
It is cold out, but if you are in a northern state and you want to view these winter visitors, you have to brave it for at least a short time. Bring a good pair of binoculars or a camera with a good zoom lens. I think you will find watching them makes winter more enjoyable.
We have been experiencing some cold nights. Some days the highs were in the 20s. I swung by Lower Canopus Lake in Fahnestock State Park when travelling nearby and saw these two ice fishing.
They were quite a distance away. This image was taken with a zoom lens and is heavily cropped. On a side note, the Appalachian Trail runs through this park, not far from where I took this image.
Some enjoy the cold weather, others tend to hibernate indoors. Whatever you do, have a great Friday!
I know these creatures are in a little pond. They make sure there are holes in the ice to come up out of. I have only briefly seen them out of the holes near the pond. On the day of the photos I saw them scampering up the hill from the pond.
They appeared to be moving snow and digging in the grass underneath. It appeared they were eating a lot of it there, but some they were carrying back down to the pond.
If you celebrate it- Wishing you a prosperous new year! 祝你新年快乐. 번영하는 새해를 기원합니다 chúc bạn một năm mới an khang thịnh vượng
Have a great rest of your week!
One very windy Sunday morning I went down to see if I could spot loons wintering near one New England Beach, which they usually do. No luck spotting any, however, I saw this gull which appeared to be picking up a rock, but I am sure it is a shell.
Merlin gives three choices for this gull. The first one is an Icelandic Gull. If I am wrong, let me know. The other two to me do not look that close to this one. It is hard to tell with the early morning light, but it appears to be an immature. The east coast of the northern US is within the range for the non breeding gulls. Only some of the gulls migrate south for the winter. Many stay in the arctic all year.
The gull appeared to be heading in the direction of the jetty. Possibly it would try to crack the shell open there? Have a great weekend.
I had to hit a store after work on the night before Thanksgiving. On the way back to the Grand Central I stopped by Brant Park. Manhattan was very crowded and Brant Park was no exception.
Brant Park has an ice skating rink, which I could not get close to, and a nice little Christmas Market with many vendor booths set up in sheds. Here are some of the things that caught my eye that I could get a photo of.
The North Pole Express tour bus picks up on 42nd Street, the street bordering the north side of the park. I hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving.
Run, run as fast as you can… you can’t catch me I’m the Gingerbread Man.
from The Gingerbread Man
I found a cute product in a local shop after Thanksgiving. I always like to find unique objects. This is a Gingerbread Mug Topper. It is made by Rustic Bakery in Petaluma, California. (I do not get paid for this blog post).
What makes these stand out is they are made to hang on paper cups or thin mugs. I found a thicker mug will not take the arm. Above it goes down part of the way on the cup.
On the picture above I used a paper cup. It seemed to work well on the paper cup. The arm goes further down the cup to hold it in place.
I don’t consider gingerbread men to be just a Christmas thing. I associate it with winter. I think it goes well with hot chocolate. Are you a fan of the Gingerbread Man?
This straggler missed his flight. It appears he will be the last to leave the party. He lingered at his winter abode. There were four snowy owls on the beach. On the day these pictures were taken and the previous day, he was the only owl sighted. Have his three other beach mates started their journey back to the far north Canadian Arctic?
I asked him where his friends were. I told him it might be time to head north soon. I hope his internal clock works well. A fellow female photo buff told me she went later and could not find him. Did he listen to me? I doubt it. They do fly between neighbouring beach areas.
All these photos are taken with a long lens and cropped significantly.
About a minute. That’s all I had with this light. Before and afterwards it was dark and cloudy. It was the best minute of my day. Appreciate even small time blocks of sunshine. Stay safe and stay healthy.
Today I did something I never would have imagined or even attempted previously. I walked on the Hudson River on top of the ice. A co-worker was telling me about the ice boating near Athens, NY last winter. Since the weather was cold for several days I decided to venture up that way to see if I could catch this activity.
I stopped locals and asked where to see ice boaters. They pointed me north of town to the boat launch. There were several people on the ice and I reasoned if they can do it, it must be safe.
Many of the boats I saw are antique and still going strong. Some were built in the 1800s. The time period when ice boating, or ice yachting was in its heyday was 1880-1910, however there are stories prior to that time frame when it is documented that ice boats were used for work or pleasure. Franklin Delano Roosevelt raced an ice boat, mainly during his university days.
The weather today was ideal in some ways, but not in others. The sky was clear and it was bitter cold. This is great for ice. However, it snowed the previous day, and snow on top of ice does not appear to make good conditions for this activity. In addition, the wind was intermittent, not good for maintaining movement. When conditions are right these ice boats I am told can reach speeds of 100 miles per hour.
There are people who walked across the river. I saw a couple walk up the river between 1/2 mile and a mile north, but not too far from shore. I try to stay on the safe side.
Someone there said they are expecting temperatures above freezing during the day for a few days during the week, which may make for the creation or more ideal ice conditions, especially if the temperatures drop again after that and they don’t get more snow. It sounds like they only have a window of a few weeks to ice boat.
So if you want to see this, I would suggest stopping by Athens next weekend, or check out the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club website and seeing if they are on the ice. Sometimes if conditions are not good on the river they may take it to a lake. It may be cold, but seeing this rare winter sporting activity is worth it. Get out and enjoy the great outdoors.
What do snowy owls do during the day? Most of the time by my observations they sleep or go between sleeping and waking up. A few times I have seen them fly to catch prey. The appear to be mostly sedentary during the day.
I saw two different owls this day. This is the same owl when I arrived and before I left. I was there around 4 hours, but watching them maybe less than half of the time I was there. They appear to have remained in the same locations from the time I arrived until when I left. All the photographers seemed to be respectful and keep a distance.
Nature is fascinating. Enjoy it from a distance.
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