Wow! Two Pileated Woodpeckers!!!

 If you have never seen a pileated woodpecker, they are a sight to behold!
Huge, the largest of the woodpeckers, often just in the deep woods.  They leave a giant pile of "wood chips" at the base of the trees, pulling off bark in chunks.  This morning I heard one close to the north side of the house...they really sound like woody woodpecker!

 I was astonished to see TWO of them, and staying close all the time, in the closest trees behind the house.  I grabbed my camera, and the battery was almost dead, but got a couple of pictures before running for my spare battery.

 If you are lucky enough to see them, usually we hear them but don't often see them, they look almost prehistoric...It was amazing to have this opportunity to watch them, so close.  All the pictures were taken from our bedroom window, I knew I would have no chance to sneak outside.

 The males and females look the same, unlike most bird species.  But I imagine this was a "pair". 

They almost seemed to be 'playing' with each other.  One would fly a short ways off to another tree, and the other would quickly follow.  I've hung out some 'bird fat' and hope they will return...and not 'something else' will find it tonight!

Morning Walks

 Blast leads the way with the covetted ball on a rope!  Tank almost had it to begin with, and now is trying to reach Blast for a tug on it...

 Kira is a very rare "all four on the ground" moment...it didn't last long...

And off she goes, looking like one leg has been amputated; doesn't matter, she has the ball!

Dogs Loving the Snowy Walks!

 A 'reflective' moment for Tank??  I wonder what Santa will bring?

 Trust is showing her 'wolf' appearance, coming out of the trees.

 Side by side, good friends, Blast absolutely must have a ball in his mouth!
Both Tracking Champions now, I think both would be happy just to forever go on our walks and runs through the trails.

 Ah, another reflective moment for Tank...hopefully he is making plans to earn his TCh in the coming year???!  More likely just wondering what's wrong with just having fun forever!!!

And speaking of "fun forever"...Kira is dive bombing on a ball buried under the snow.  Little does she know, she will be starting her "tracking career" this coming spring.  But next spring is now a very long way off...enjoying the snow is her only real 'job' right now.  And it keeps building up, so it looks like a long and snowy winter for us.

The Next Morning...

My tire marks going in the driveway the night before.  There was approximately 8" of snowfall, after being completely bare when I left for the CCTC party the day before.  And still the weather said only 2 cm.

 It was a pretty walk with the dogs, of course, in the morning.  But just don't want the snow to keep coming and staying.  And more came again last night...David spent 4 hr. blowing snow yesterday...not exactly fun.

 And the birds were hungry.  The pretty pine grosbeaks came back, and we had to put out feed 3x yesterday for all the birds we have now.

 Walking in the paths in the front west field.  The dogs just love it.

Blast, with his face covered in snow, in trying to suck up to Trust while Tank pretends not to notice.  He and Blast had just come back onto the path after a frantic chase through the weeds.  About two hours later, the wind and snow started to blow in again, and we had a freezing rain warning all night.  Luckily, we didn't get much here, but just MORE snow!

Heading Home Up the Highway...

 Attending my tracking clubs' Christmas Party and AGM this weekend.
Look at the truck baring down on us in my rearview mirror.  We were driving in only one open lane, and soooo slow, I just held up my camera now and again without even focusing, and taking some shots.  A horrid drive in a long stretch on Hwy.#11.  I just thought this was a funny photo showing the transport truck.  There were so many on the highway.

 This was in a 100 zone highway, double lanes, and we were moving along mainly at 70 in only one lane.  At times, it was down to 50.  The radio said up to 2 cm snow....they should look out their windows!

 Believe it or not, there is a car that drove up the snowy lane and was just passing the trailer up in front of me.  I had backed off a little, expecting 'maybe' the worst...He did get by but what was the point?!

Further on, two snowplows came on the highway, clearing both lanes, but it was still bad driving.  This is a very long line of traffic following the plows.  We were driving between 40 and 60 here, and this went on for miles and miles and miles.  Safe...but slow.  I was very happy to have attended the party and see many people I haven't seen in a long time, and an overnight visit while there.  Blast was presented with 3 club pins by the Cross Country Tracking Club, for the three titles he earned this year (TDX, UTD, UTDX) and also a beautiful engraved medallion for earning his Tracking Champion title.

I am very proud of this boy.