To owl of you

  

Happy holidays to owl of you!

 

 

The second photo is a Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) photographed in Petaluma at the end of the day today (24 December 2025). 

Drop after drop

  

We went for a short walk in Petaluma this morning (22 December 2025).  One of the plants there had water droplets at the tip of every branch — a field of droplets as far as you could see! 

The shortest day

  

  Happy Solstice!  

(Snowman from last weekend in Massachusetts.) 

Of Light and Air

  

We're back from a trip to visit family in Massachusetts, and we felt very lucky to be there during a beautiful Winslow Homer exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Above, The Blue Boat by Winslow Homer in 1892.

The Of Light and Air: Winslow Homer in Watercolor exhibit runs through 19 January 2026, so if you're in the Boston area and have an interest in Homer's watercolors (as well as a few bonus oil paintings, e.g., The Fog Warning), I recommend trying to get to the MFA!  There are also lots of photos and videos with additional details on the MFA's website (see link above).

On a lark

  

It was a cold and windy day here in Scituate, Massachusetts, but we went for a short walk this afternoon (11 December 2025) and caught up with a small flock of Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris).

I love how the russet tones in their feathers match the colors in the salt marsh at this time of year (above).

We also saw a few Horned Larks in a rocky area and it was fun to see how well they blended in with the rocks...although check out those beautiful golden head and throat markings!

 

 

 

 

 

One more photo, as I always appreciate when you can see a little more of an animal's behavior — in this case, searching for seeds among some of the upper marsh plants:

 

 

  

Star-spangled back

  

Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata), Scituate Harbor, MA, on 9 December 2025.

Here's the entire bird (below). Note the spangled patterning on the back.  The species name — "stellata" — apparently means "set with stars" and refers to this beautiful design in the loon's non-breeding plumage.  [You can click on the images for larger versions.]

 

 

Flashy time of year

 

 

This green flash photo is from last week, but perhaps it'll be a reminder to keep an eye out for green flashes around sunset at this time of year.  (Just don't look at the sun until it's almost entirely below the horizon.)

Find the fish

  

Quick photo of a sculpin in the rocky intertidal zone after field work tonight (5 December 2025).  Amazing how much it looks like the surrounding rock, gravel, and shells.

Sunset watcher

 

 

The sunset was quite something tonight (2 December 2025), and we weren't the only ones watching!

 

Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) perched on top of a CODAR antenna that monitors ocean currents.

 

And here's a close-up of the owl in silhouette against that purple sky: 

 

 

 

December dragon

  

Air temperatures reached the mid-high 50's today, but the afternoon sun was warm enough to activate this dragonfly.  It zipped into our backyard and landed on one of the remaining hot peppers in the garden.

Variegated Meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum) photographed in Cotati on 1 December 2025.  

With many thanks to Eric for the great photo!