Danny and Sara Go Birding

So after our Boston adventures we headed back to Quechee, where I had to work a few days. I did an outreach at the Ben and Jerry's Festival which I don't have pictures of, but afterwards we went to visit the Hawk Owl who was sitting on the same tree that I saw him at over a month ago. We saw him fly though, so he's definitely real. And I got another blurry picture. I should take this moment to mention the following pictures of birds will be poor quality, and that's because I was taking them with my iphone through binoculars.

Danny got to meet the crow that lives at VINS. 

And he got to watch me do a program with this guy (Harris Hawk).

We took a hike down the gorge and saw the pretty valley and ice structures.

We took selfies in front of the Quechee covered bridge.

And then we went birding - YAY! So we went to the coast of New Hampshire and Northern Massachusetts and had a great day of birding. One of the best parts was that we saw almost everything from the car and did not freeze to death outside. It was snowing almost all day too which was pretty.

First we had to see some ducks. This is my new favorite duck - Common Eider.

There were plenty of gulls to laugh at and enjoy - look how they all face the same direction!

And oh, should I mention the snowy owl we saw on a roof? This is actually the same snowy I had pictures of from my last trip. She was pretty easy to find again as she lives on such a nice piece of coast.

And loons. They look so different in winter! This one was starting to molt and get it's spotted back.

Mergansers! They have the funniest hairdo!

We walked to the beach...then immediately returned to car because it was so cold.

Snowy #2! So pretty. We were about to drive away and leave it in peace when...

It took off and caught some dinner!

Then we got to watch it fly back to a more comfy place after eating.

Snowy #3!

Then we saw a new bird flying and we didn't know what it was!...

It was a short-eared owl, the first one either of us had seen! If that wasn't exciting enough we saw a northern harrier come and chase it off. It was intense, and I'm sorry I don't have photographs of it but I was too involved in the moment.

Meanwhile, snowy #3 had dinner and we watched her clean up after. 

Snowy #4 was seen about 5 minutes after we left #3, but I have no photo proof! It was on a telephone post on a skinny bridge and we decided I did not need to stop traffic or get in an accident because I had already seen and photographed 3 that day. 

In case any of you are still wondering what I do with my life. Here is me and the kestrel on the job.