~January 2014 POM - Happy New Year!~

[Sage]

So get out those new cameras Santa brought you, or even grab some shots with your cell phone, but show us what you are seeing in this new month of the new year!

And, we're starting the new year off with a bang! biigblueeyes has found a very popular new adult toy, the "Dammit Doll" which every gardener should have! I found her showing it about, not sayin' where, and she offered to make one for the Wildlife Gardener's January POM Winner! Fabric and trim of her choice, of course! If you don't say some of those words when you just added way too much fertilizer to your mix, you may call it the "darnit doll"!



If you post the best shot, the doll for saving your sanity will be yours! You have five entries PLUS! Snowy Owls, or actually any owls are free! Note: Owl pix must be wild owls, not captive, and pix must be taken by YOU!

Hint: Snowies are found in open, tundra-like fields, on the ground or on low buildings or posts. They seem to like airports. Check the smaller airports in your vicinity where you can drive around the perimeter. Oddly, they are being seen even into the southern states!

Good luck to all!

[havalotta]

Cold weather and early deep snow cover have contributed to a “phenomenal” (but there are other factors) early December migration of snowy owls into the Great Lakes and Northeast. The picture is from Pennsylvania this past week. Here’s a map of snowy owl sightings. Sightings have been reported in Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and in fact all the way down to N. Carolina and Bermuda. Needless to say, Harry Potter is excited!

A map showing where the snowy owls have been spotted . http://ebird.org/content/ebird/wp-co...6.31.52-AM.png

[kchd]

Captured this photo while poking around in one of my favorite places to visit in se Arizona. Empire Gulch is in the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area. Fantastic birding, as always. I've gotten several 'life birds' here over the few years since I've been visiting the area. This is a BLM land base, and Arizona Game and Fish has recently released several Gould's wild turkey (a beautiful subspecies) into Empire Gulch.

[dapjwy]

Nice, kchd! I'd love to see an owl...or several owl species show up in our yard some times.

[havalotta]

Snow fun, living in the frozen tundra!

[kchd]

I wish we would get some snow. I'm jealous!

[havalotta]

Last night, We were presented with a 3 foot drift against the back door.
This morning, I tossed the little pooch over the heap. Not wanting to go through it to retrieve her, A popcorn offering sent her bull dozing her way through. Three lunges late,r there stood my dog, winking and blinking at me through snow covered lashes. What a brave heart. Anything for a treat, that little girl of mine.

[havalotta]

I don't mind Winter. It Flies by pretty fast.

An artsy shot taken on the fly from within the warm confines of the car on a snow laden road.

[dapjwy]

Originally Posted by havalotta

I don't mind Winter. It Flies by pretty fast.

It doesn't normally fly by so fast for me...but this year, seems pretty good. I'm not sick of it yet, and it is getting pretty close to February. The days are getting longer, and the snow melts faster with that and the higher angle of the sun. I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I do start seeing signs of spring late February and early March--but from my photos, I can see it doesn't really *look* like spring until much later.

Originally Posted by havalotta

Attachment 39997
An artsy shot taken on the fly from within the warm confines of the car on a snow laden road.

Very cool effect.

[havalotta]

All in the eye of the beholder.