Last night we went to the Conservancy Farm hoping to find one of the Short-eared Owls that have been seen there. But we got there at least an hour before sunset, which on a clear cold night was great.
Since we had a lot of time to walked several trails seeing what we could find. I managed to find a downed tree that was covered with fungi. The fungus on the left is Violet-toothed polypore. The one on the right is Mossy-maze polypore. Hurray, new fungi for 2025.
The Susan spotted an egg mass from a Chinese mantis. These are much larger than those of the Preying mantis. It’s always nice finding signs of living insects in January.
Then as the sun was setting we started to watch for the owls – and were not disappointed.
First one, then another came out and were soaring together nearby.
The owls circled together before heading off and hunting the fields.
This was a perfect way to end a cold January day.
More later…
Michael's Place 