Little owl

More bird excitement around here! I heard the distinctive thud of a bird hitting our large dining room windows the other evening right at dusk. It was loud enough that I walked from the other side of the house to check it out. I cringed when I realized that it was a little bird of prey crumpled in the rocks under the window, but as I stepped outside, it looked up at me. It had a very tight grip on a twig.

I picked it up, snapped this quick photo with the flash, then set the owl down on an outside table. It stood up fine, so we waited.

Ole calls it "Mad Owl."

After two or three minutes of watching and waiting, it flew off into the trees. We ran right to the bird books and I'm pretty sure it's a Northern Pygmy Owl. Interesting fact: these guys are diurnal and are also active at dawn and dusk.We figure it was hunting near our birdfeeders when it hit the glass. I'm just so happy it survived!
Here's a photo of my cute little owl. We visited a pumpkin patch just before Halloween and squeezed him into last year's costume.

Clamming

On our last trip to the beach we learned a handy new skill: how to dig for razor clams. When the clams are in season and the tide is super low, thousands of people flock to the beach to dig their limit of clams. This low tide, called a minus tide, was right at sunset. Chowder here we come!

The technique is pretty simple: look for small divot in the sand and dig straight down quickly. We used special aluminum clam guns that we borrowed from some experienced diggers. They also showed us some helpful tricks and tips.

I scored a clam on this pull. See its creepy neck (or is that the foot?) protruding from the shell in the foreground?

Ole got a big kick out of helping grandpa. As dad pulled up a tube of sand, Ole would quickly fill the hole back in with his shovel. Not the best technique if the clam's still down there, but he sure enjoyed it. See the distant masses of people?

We ultimately decided that digging for clams is much more enjoyable than actually cleaning and eating them, but it's good to know they're down there.

And here's a shot from earlier in the day to prove that the sun really does shine at the beach once in a while.