So off I go in the 28 degree and cloudy (not to mention foggy). By the time I arrive on the causeway, its' 25 degrees and the sun might just come out (and there's some blue skies to the west).
I cross the causeway. There are no Kestrels or other hawks along the causeway but I do see a Bald Eagle on the Farmington Bay side!!!
Despite the frozen Bay, there are very little ducks around; not sure what that Eagle is after.
I reach the island and head south to the Ranch. I'm planning on hiking Sentry Peak today.
I see a small group of bison before the fence line.
And hey, they have the Gravel Pit gate open again. I know they have a New Years "1st Hike" on the Gravel Pit trail tomorrow; sure they hope they keep it open the rest of the winter.
Continuing on, I see something "out-of-place" on the north Beacon Hill. I stop for a look; it's a big buck just laying in the grasses!!!
I roll through the Frary Peak area spotting 3 porcupine. (And I learned from the DNR guy at the Ranch that the porcupine are eating the Russian Olive tree bark; I thought they were eating the fruit. Learn something new everyday.)
Not too much farther down the road, there's a pretty large herd of Pronghorn grazing.
And several smaller herds of bison up near the mountains.
Nearing the Ranch, I roll past a large herd of bison on the south side of a hill.
Smaller herds follow.
There's also a herd on the east side of the road a couple of miles from the Ranch.
Just after them, I see something that might be another buck. Yep, buck #2 of the day!!
I reach the Ranch and gear up (it's sunny) only to find out that I don't have sunscreen. Oops, there's goes my hike. (Probably was for the better because the sun did go away and 25 degrees with a slight wind is not to my liking.)
But I going to search for Great Horned Owls. I do a loop thru the entire wooded area only to find the owl right where I first started; hey, I did find it!
Time to head back north and over to the west side of the island.
That herd along the White Rock trail is still there.
Good way to end 2019. Time to head home!
I see one Kestrel perched on a sign on my out along the causeway.
That's a wrap for 2019! For the 2020 blog: https://jeanetteklodzen2020.blogspot.com/
