For the first time in since before the Big Freeze, my husband and I walked along the greenbelt introduced to us last year by our friend Anne. I don’t think either of us really expected to see much — it’s January, for crying out loud! But we needed to see something besides the inside of the house, and the grocery store. So we went.

When I was here two weeks ago, I had heard that the owls had been seen mating, and visiting the same nest as before. So our first stop was the tree where the Great Horned Owls nested last year.

The nest isn’t much to look at — I think it’s an old magpie nest that the owls have refurbished. And due to the way the branches are spread, it’s hard to get a good look at it from most angles. But there she was! I assume that she was sitting on eggs. The incubation period from 30 to 37 days. I also assume that she laid the eggs in the last two weeks so, they should hatch out any time from February 11 to March 7. Hmmm. That’s a big window. We’ll just have to keep watch.

It was good to be outside, and although the temperature hovered around 25o, it was sunny and pleasant, so we walked on down the trail.

Out of the corner of his eye, my husband saw a big shape next to the creek. A quick check revealed it to be a Great Blue Heron, huddled in the sun. GBHs stay here year-round, evidently tolerating the cold well.

It was only as I was processing the photos this morning that I realized that it had ice crystals on it’s back. No wonder it’s in the sun, waiting to warm up.

For the record, I think the stuff on the tip of its beak is just keratin peeling off — just like a hangnail on our fingers, although hopefully not as annoying.

As we were walking back, we saw some LBJs — little brown jobies. Hey! It’s a technical term for any little bird you don’t know!

Anyway, we saw some LBJs that on closer inspection turned out to be song sparrows. One of them posed for me so nicely that I got this wonderful shot of him. 🙂

Get outside! Go for a walk! Look at the birds! You’ll feel better.