It’s only January 3rd, and I already have my second cold of the winter. Argh, I hate being sick. This one has hit me pretty hard too. But, today, being sick paid off!

If I wasn’t sleeping in, I would have likely been out seawatching at dawn (there was a stiff northeast wind this morning). If I was seawatching at dawn, I wouldn’t have been home to see what Jeannette found while walking Sasha at Hedgehog Mountain:

(This photo was adjusted for contrast in Photoshop)

Jeannette raced home, got my lazy butt out of bed, and we refound this yellow-eyed gnome of the north woods, the Northern Saw-whet Owl. An exciting addition to my Hedgehog Mountain Park list! . . . And any owl is always a treat to see!

Jeannette found the owl by observing the mobbing behavior of a flock of Black-capped Chickadees. The bird was not asleep, either because it was still hunting after dawn, or because the chickadees had found its roost. The answer to that question was readily apparent by the time we returned – it has moved a few fir trees away, but in the meantime it had found breakfast – a shrew – which it was clutching in its tiny, yet powerful, talons.