Who-o-o-o Done It?

I've been meaning to get out to Beaver Lake to take pictures of the winter birds. So yesterday I picked up Sarah and we headed out. It was probably not the best day to go since it was very gray and overcast, but I had procrastinated too long! I'd heard that there was a snowy owl who was hanging around one of the farms in Cato so we went there first. Two passes down the road netted no owl, but on our final pass we spotted him on the telephone pole. He was nice enough to pose patiently for us so we got lots of pictures.


From Cato we drove to Beaver Lake, stopping on the way to take a picture of a red tailed hawk who had been feasting on a deer carcass. BL was busy. Lots of birds feasting at the feeders. I don't know what kind of sparrow is in the photos here - the yellow wing stripe is a puzzler. **CORRECTION: it's not a sparrow, it's a pine siskin.