What a way to end the day

Spent the whole day SE of the city again on 13 March 2014, with friends Cathy and Terry. What a slow day it was for much of the time. Took us just over 6 hours to find the first Snowy Owl - just the tiniest, distant white speck on the ground, far across a huge field. We were beginning to wonder if maybe all the Snowies had already left to fly north, so we were happy to see this one, and a second one about four hours later, perched on a distant power pole. No photo opportunities for these owls, but it felt to good to know that there were at least these two owls still in the area. We had no luck at all finding a Short-eared Owl - very different from 7th March, when we saw 8 of them, six in flight and two on the ground. In addition to the 2 Snowies, we did see 9 Great Horned Owls, though, some on nests. Weather was beautiful with some interesting clouds for part of the day, clearing much later. We were just in time to see the last of the pink sunrise colour and light on the distant mountains - always so beautiful - and our day ended with this beautiful sunset sky. I rarely see sunrises or sunsets, as I'm usually home at those times, so to see both on this day was a real treat. Some of the fields looked pretty bare, while others were still covered in snow. The "heat-wave" distortion was really bad all day long, making good, clear shots impossible.

Was lucky enough to get down to the same area again yesterday, 15 March 2014. This was one of the annual trips with a bunch of friends, that I always try to go on. Again, no Short-eared Owls or Snowy Owls, but I think the highlight off the day was when we had a flock of European Starlings flying en masse over the fields near us. Various estimates suggested were 5,000 - 10,000 birds. These birds are well known for their spectacular mass aerial displays before roosting for the night and many of you have probably seen various videos of this phenomenon. Different to see a small murmuration in person, so we were really lucky. Two days earlier, I had found two Eurasian Collared Doves in one of the small hamlets in the area, so we went to check it out. With my almost non-existent sense of direction, I was a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to find the same tree, but I did, and then other birders were able to spot about six of these Doves in various trees. Thanks, Andrew, for yet another great day!

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