The Star-Studded Escapades

                                                       Red-shouldered Hawk in Flight

                                                                Red-shouldered Hawk

                                                                 Northern Mockingbird

                                                           Great Blue Heron in Flight

                                                       Canada Goose Springs from Water

                                                                   Great Blue Heron

                                              American Goldfinch, Non-Breeding Plumage

                                                                  Ring-billed Gulls

                                                                 European Starling

                                                                  Male Bufflehead

0815-1030 hrs./31-55 degrees F/0-22 mph wind gusts/partly cloudy

These were yesterday's(Sunday 01-18-15) photos, which was an outstanding day.  The wind began kicking up at approximately 0900 hrs., then by 1015 was gusting steadily at 22 mph.  With the lovely weather came a number of beautiful birds, and I investigated The Northern Reaches, where I found the Great Blue Heron in flight, who later landed by the snags and chortled at me.

Even though the European Starling is despised by most, it really is a beautiful non-indigenous bird.
For those that don't know it, these birds steal nest cavities fashioned by other birds and destroy the eggs of other birds.  But I pose one question:  if the starling was not in the US, how much would the lives of other birds have changed?  Sadly, we'll never know the answer to that.

Much of the ice has disappeared from the lake due to the present January thaw.  Enjoy it while you can,
for winter will return with a vengeance.  Don't put away those hats and gloves yet.