November 22, 2008 - And the snow just keeps on coming!  Yes, Old Man Winter has dropped by a little early this year and it appears he is going to stay here for a few months - like six!  The big bird feeder has been raided by eight raccoons and they emptied it in record time.  I hope they are full and snuggled in the huge poplar tree near the studio as I'd like to fill the feeder for the birds this next time.  Just before the last snow hit we had thirteen turkeys coming in to feed under the feeder.  They are obviously hungry.  When they are in the yard and a squirrels knocks off some seed the turkeys come on the run to gobble down the spill.

I saw a really strange site a few weeks ago and forgot to post it during October.  I was driving down the highway near my studio and saw this large bird flopping down the highway.  As I passed by it looked to me like it was a loon.  I turned around and using my camera with a 400mm zoom took some pictures.  I had no way to capture the poor bird and try to help it.  I don't know what was wrong with it.  It appears to be a red-throated loon in winter plumage.  We normally see the common loon here and this is the first red-throated loon I have seen.  I couldn't handle the bird by myself and still drive (that's a heck of a bill and very powerful) so I drove home and called Sue who was just getting out of work and the bird was only about a quarter of a mile from the school where she teaches.  I asked her to check on the bird with the idea the two of us would go back and see what we could do.  The bird was gone and there was no trace of it.