Coyote

Saturday morning. Vincent spotted a four legged at the far end of the meadow. The three of us picked up binoculars and cameras and spent the next hour or so enjoying the beauty and the hunting skill of this female coyote.

She steps her way lightly over the crust of the snow, stopping, listening intently for activity under the snow; then the pounce. There is the lightest lift off and precision and force in her landing. Front paws breaking through the crust of snow. Another pounce of front legs and snout. Deeper into the snow. She is patient and still. All we can see of her at this point is her torso, hind legs and tail as she waits for the unfortunate vole under the snow. These first few photos show our girl, after the hunt; enjoying the fruits of her labour.

And off she goes. In search of another bite.

Across the creek and in amongst the willows. . .

Onward ever onward.

Moose on the meadow and some frosty mornings

It's been pretty spectacular weather for the last week or so. Frosty mornings and sunny days. The combination of frost and sunshine makes for some very enjoyable photography. And we've had some lovely close-up visits from our resident moose. As always, when a critter shows up ~ everything else we're doing comes to an abrupt halt while we get out our cameras and click and whir! Visits from our local wildlife are major entertainment around here. Four legged visitors are much more common than visitors of the two legged variety. Every season has it's beauty ~ we are enjoying our winter immensely. Still, this time of year we begin to look forward to spring and the return of our sweet and colourful feathered friends!

Good Morning on the Meadow

The wood stove is warming the kitchen, the coffee's on and it's the start of another great day. David captured these shots of our sunrise this morning. We had about an inch of snow last night ~ the first snow that's fallen in a few weeks. It's lovely; warms things up a bit! At the other end of the day now and a few photos of our sunset. It began about 4:45 pm. David is working at the kitchen table this afternoon because the light is just right and there's the warmth of the wood stove too. He's working on a ring for fellow in Denmark. The ring is Black Walnut and Juniper Heartwood with inlaid bands of Tagish Lake meteorite dust. The ring is tapered and has a featured heartwood knot. The 'star dust' is being inlaid as borders to the heartwood. I can't wait to see the ring finished. Time now to make some dinner and watch the stars come out.

The Owl of Winter.

Winter on the meadow. Our Northern Hawk Owl has been around quite a bit the last few days. All three of us have had our cameras clicking. What a delight this small owl is. Quite comfortable with us it seems.These are a few of the photos David and I have taken while Vince has been getting some great close ups with his telescope camera. A few of our owl's favourite perches are very close to the house giving us the opportunity to watch him up close and personal. He's perched on abird feeder in the photo above.

Here he is perched on top of the clothesline pole.

We see all sorts of critter tracks at the edges of the meadow and watch eagle eyed for sightings of our four legged friends .... soon, soon!

Sending prayers and love and money . . .

We are so grateful to be among the fortunate who are enjoying the comforts of a warm home and a good Sunday dinner. We are grateful that we are able to help in some small way. Wanting to help as much as possible as quickly as possible, we searched for agencies who are on the ground in Haiti offering direct disaster assistance. Here are a few suggestions for legitimate Canadian agencies offering aid to the people of Haiti right now. Doctors Without Borders; 1-800-982- 7908 online at www.msf.ca Donations can be made to the Canadian Red Cross online at redcross.ca/helpnow or toll-free at 1- 800-418-1111. The Humanitarian Coalition comprised of CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, Oxfam-Quebec and Save the Children Canada, 1-800-464-9154 or www.thehumanitariancoalition.ca and World Vision; 1-800-268-5528 or www.worldvision.ca