Thursday, December 11, 2014

A Christmas Stitch & A Rare Bird

I started stitching Lizzie Kate's "Falalalala". Love the bright Christmasy colors.   
Avid birders in the area reported that a Snowy Owl was hanging out in the mudflats of Fern Ridge Reservoir. So Tuesday afternoon my Mom and I donned boots and brought umbrellas and set off on the 2 1/2 mile hike out to into the drained reservoir.    

The area is wonderful marshy bird habitat.

There are platforms for Osprey.

And I was pleased to see this little beauty. A Meadowlark.

There were several Bluebird houses.

And 'V' after 'V' of geese.

My eagle-eyed Mom was the one who spotted the owl sitting out in the mudflats.

It was 4:00pm before we got to the viewing area and in the waning light, even with my zoom lens in was impossible to take a good photo.

I am thankful that a generous birder agreed to share her two photos. More daylight and a powerful birding scope lens make for a clearer photo.   

See!  There he is!
Snowy Owls spend summers near the Arctic Circle. They hunt all hours of the day and may consume 1,600 lemmings in a summer.  Come winter they head south to Canada and the northern United States.  I'd never seen one so was really pleased to see this fellow even from afar.

18 comments:

Vickie said...

Love those colors also!
And what a thrilling sighting!

Von said...

It's so amazing you were able to spot the snowy owl!! Glad you made the effort to get out there for the sighting. :)

wranglerkate said...

Wow! Thanks for sharing your awesome sighting. I really enjoy reading your blog.

Debbie said...

That Snowy Owl is beautiful! I love the colors for Falalalala!

Cathy said...

Wow. Thanks for posting. What a rare sight! And he's adorable.
Cathy
CraftyCat

Annette-California said...

He sure looks like he was wishing you a Merry Christmas! Beautiful snow owl.
Great colors in LK! Now I need to look up that design - lol.
love Annette

Barb said...

Beth, how wonderful to get to see the Snowy Owl. A rare treat to be sure!! I love the colors for your next stitch. Can you tell me the color of the dark greens? I am having trouble finding a nice dark green for my WIP.

Susan said...

Love the colors in that Lizzie*Kate. A snowy owl sat on top of the state house in Concord for about two weeks one winter. While NH sometimes feels like it's in the Artic, we were not the normal winter range for them.

Heather said...

Love your new start! How exciting to see a snowy owl!

Margaret said...

OK, I have to say that is so cool. A real snowy owl. He's a beauty too. Wow!

Sarah Beth said...

The owl picture was pretty cool. I've only seen one once and that was in Michigan. They are very majestic animals

Sandra said...

Love your new start on your Lizzie Kate's cross stitch. Wonderful colors. Enjoy the bird photos; the Snowy Owl is great.

Maggee said...

Wow!!! A snowy owl!! What a great sighting!! Congrats!!! I also love the bright Christmas colors in the LK piece! The time just slips away every day... I am working on some Tra La La pieces for Christmas--almost done! Hugs!

Pam in IL said...

Those bright Christmas colors are calling my name! The Snowy Owls winter in my area too, but I've never actually seen one, although others have. How fun that you and your mom hiked to see the owl and other birds.

Andrea said...

Love the new stitching start. An exciting day seeing the Snowy Owl. It looks so beautiful.

Melanie said...

Ooooooooo, that is super cool!!! Awesome. :)

Mouse said...

ooooo love the owl ... we had a large owl land on my porch roof one night while I was in the bedroom ...typically no camera to hand .... nice colours for the L*K piece :)love mouse xxxxx

Melody said...

Impressive that you got to see the snowy owl!! My husband saw one in a field on his way to work one day a couple of years ago, but did not have his camera with him...