What I expect is not what I see! Over the last three days Great Gray Owls have outnumbered Pine Grosbeaks 4 to 1! In addition, late yesterday afternoon I discovered six Horned Larks. In short none of these sightings are normal …

• Seeing four Great Gray Owls in a single afternoon, and NOT being at Sax-Zim Bog was crazy nice. Each owl was a private showing for me!
• Pine Grosbeaks are normally a common winter sight here on the Arctic Riviera. However, I count myself lucky with having found one female pine grosbeak this morning. These birds are staying up in Canada as their food sources are plentiful up there. I scanned the trees and listened for the telltale song of other Pine Grosbeaks, but it was just the lone bird.
• Horned Larks being seen in December 20th is not normal. They migrate through the Northland and should be way south of us now, but six individuals found a wind swept field in which to search for seeds.
• Although I did not see any crossbills over the past few days, it is a banner year for this species. Normally I would be very happy to spy and individual or two.

Two of the Great Gray Owls seen earlier this week …

Owl #1 (in the 1st image the owl is carefully watching a Bald Eagle fly over)

Owl #2 (right at sunset)

One Lone Pine Grosbeak (a new verse for the 12 Days of Christmas?!)

Six Horned Larks