Today started cold. it was -10f when I woke up and came out to start my day at 5:30am. The temperature stayed below zero until about 2pm and it peaked at a balmy 4 above at 3:30. I made it out 5 times over the course of the day. Four of the outings were simply activities to endure. My face was in pain from the combination of cold, wind, and slightly hazy sun. The whole valley was obscured by a haze of tiny, drifting ice crystals that seemed to be freezing out of the air.
At 3pm, I really needed to get out and walk in the woods. The sky was cloudless, the temp was 3 above and the Lab was ready to go. We headed out the Scratchgravels. The trail is in the sunshine and climbs gently from south th=o north. I figured it would be the most pleasant trail on a day like this.
I was correct.
The trail has not been well traveled and it was not packed down to ice anywhere along the 2 miles we wallked. at the upper reach of our walk, I was following only one other set of footprints. Its really nice to be able to find such peaceful surroundings and not have to worry about crowds of other visitors.
I stopped several times to listen and allow my phone to eavesdrop to see if any birds were about- but neither my phone nor I heard anything at all. Soon that trail will be alive with nuthatches and crossbills, then the bluebirds and tanagers will come. Not today, though.
After the walk, I decided to drive to a few typical hotspots in the valley- just to see if there might be a new year bird or two waiting to be found. I was hoping for it to be a GREAT day. That is, I was hoping for a Great horned Owl and a Great Blue Heron.
As it turned out, I did get a Great Blue Heron. Fishing the ditch near the frontage road pond- this bird, at least 100 meters away, saw me stop and changed its stance. By the time I grabbed the Nikon, the blue was airborn and flying away from me. I also saw a Prairie Falcon, 7 Rough-legged Hawks (including one eating a rodent on the ground), House Finches, Mallards, Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees, and not much else.
The Great Blue Heron puts the year-list at 40 species. I have two more days to try to make it to 50 by the end of Janaury. We’ll see.
Nature, every day. 
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