Breathtaking beauty

The forecast for yesterday was "cloudy periods", but overcast sky was all we got the whole time we were out NE and E of the city : ) I wasn't expecting any of my photos to turn out, so was happily surprised to find that they were sharp enough to use once brightened. A beautiful blue sky as a background would have been nice, of course, but I was still thrilled to not only see Snowy Owls but to get a few photos of them. Flickr friends Ron and Trish invited me to go on this drive with them and Ron, in true form, found 12 of these birds for us : ) About three of the birds were close enough and gave us just enough time to quickly take some photos - I would have been content with just one bird and one reasonable image! Thanks so much, both of you, for this special treat! Hope your colds clear up really soon!

An interesting webpage, about sexing and aging of Snowy Owls:

www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/snowy.htm

Adding this at the end of the day: just found this link on my Daughter-in-law's Facebook page (thanks for posting it, Carrie) - a video of a horribly abused little dog, Edie, who was rescued from being put down. A real tear-jerker, for sure. Hard to understand how people can be this cruel to another living being - but incredible how just a moment's kindness can work miracles. Sadly, this is just one of endless videos that all share this common theme. Eldad (Hope for Paws, www.hopeforpaws.org/) has such a way with animals and there are many videos of his work. He is also on Flickr, www.flickr.com/photos/eldad75/.

www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.godvine.com/Meet-the-...

UPDATE on tiny Northern Saw-whet Owl - a few of us went over to Carburn Park around lunch time today, but there was no sign of this owl in its usual place. Hope it hasn't left the area for good.