The Snowy Owl Irruption

Continues...

Another Snowy seen on the beach today.

Gray on Gray

Northern Shrike at a distance on an overcast December day.

Black-capped Chickadee

"I am determined to be happy and cheerful in whatever situation.  For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition." ~ Martha Washington

Full Cold Moon and Tonight's Sunset

Tonight's full "Cold Moon" is also the only "Super Moon" of the year and the last full moon of 2017.

Snowy Owl

A young (most likely female) Snowy Owl perched on and hunting from driftwood on the beach during the early hours of the day.  

Waxing Gibbous

91% of December's full "Cold Moon" is visible this evening.

Glaucous Gull

The Glaucous Gull is a large gull of the far north which breeds in the high Arctic and heads south for the winter.  This handsome juvenile was seen this morning on a Lake Erie beach in western New York.

Red-breasted Merganser

Horned Grebe

Snowy Owl

Hermit Thrush

Red-shouldered Hawk

Brown-headed Nuthatch

A Brown-headed Nuthatch in Mecklenburg County North Carolina.

Northern Mockingbird

Yearling

Dunlin

Sabine's Gull

A Sabine's Gull near the base of the American Falls at Niagara.  These arctic gulls breed in Alaska and Nunavut and head out to open tropical waters on the ocean for the winter.  It's always a thrill to see one of these striking gulls show up on the Great Lakes during migration.

Snow Buntings

Lake Erie Sunset

Full Beaver Moonrise