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Peace & Merry Christmas To You~

Venice Italy

Strasbourg France

Barcelona Spain

Melk Austria

Cinque Terre Italy

Lisbon Portugal

Strasbourg France

St. Petersburg Russia

Vienna Austria

Dubrovnik Croatia

Santorini Greece

Budapest Hungary

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you from our fragile, precious world~

Santa Barbara Wine Country~

in late fall, (click to enlarge)

has it’s own,

fall palette.

Vineyards,

put on a muted,

ombre display,

as the wine grapes are ready,

for harvest.

The trees,

are showing off too.

Cheers to you from Santa Barbara~

Canadian Colors~

Awesome Alberta, (click/tap to enlarge)

struts her stuff,

in early fall.

Stillness,

reflects,

Mother Nature’s peaceful palette.

Cheers to you from astonishing Alberta~

Bubo bubo~

The Bubo bubo AKA Eurasian Eagle Owl is the world’s heaviest owl.

It’s wingspan can reach over 6 feet!

These owls are top of the line predators, meaning they are not normally prey for other animals, and will even occasionally prey on other raptors.

I got to spend time with this beauty as he flew free at his home in Avian Behavior International in rural Southern California.

Bubo bubo’s are native to Europe, Asia and parts of Africa.

Their populations declined heavily in the mid 1900’s, but due to conservation efforts, the species is recovering.

Cheers to you from The gorgeous, free flying Bubo bubo~

Hoo R U?

Meet the very curious burrowing owl who clearly wonders who the heck you are!

Burrowing Owls are a federally protected species in the US, Canada, and in Mexico. They are designated endangered, threatened, or a species of special concern, in nine US states, including California.

This burrowing owl pair lives at Avian Behavior International in rural Southern California. You cannot keep burrowning owls unless you are licensed and raise them for breeding, conservation, rehabilitation, and/or educational purposes.

These curious and unique ground dwelling birds live in burrows in the ground where they hide from predators and raise their young.

They are tiny, but big in looks and personality! I have only seen them in the wild a few times in the last ten years because they are now very rare where I live. But click and check out this curious wild cutie that I met a few years ago:

Cheers to you from the precious and endangered Southern California burrowing owls~

Saker Falcon~

Incoming,

at 88 mph!

I duck,

he nails his prize,

and promptly mantles so I won’t steal it.

Saker Falcons have been falconry birds for 1000’s of years.

They are an endangered species, native across Central Europe to China.

This is Katie Pnewski, a brilliant and comitted bird trainer,

and bird lover, who works at Avian Behavior International,

a conservation and bird advocacy organization near The Holler in rural Southern California.

I spent an incredible day here today, and will be introducing you to more of their amazing birds and conservation efforts in my next posts. For more on this worthwhile organization see:

https://avian-behavior.org/about-us/conservation/

Cheers to you from the phenomenal Saker Falcon and his devoted human~

September Storm~

moves in fast,

at high elevation,

in the Canadian Rockies.

It is a beauty,

to behold,

albiet quite cold!

The ride back down the mountain,

was nippy without our ski gear.

Cheers to you from the rockies in the fall~

Canadian Scenes~

Mirrored,

Moraine Lake,

reflects it’s beauty,

back at you.

Understandable why this lake is the seventh most instagramed in the world.

This time we stayed in the lodge at the lake and got to enjoy it after the day trippers tripped away.

Kicking Horse River Yoho National Park.

Quiet River in busy Calgary.

Cheers to you from Canada in September~

Yoho~

Muted fall colors, (click to enlarge)

and pale powder rivers.

Canada is gorgeous,

in every season,

but fall’s,

subtle splendor,

takes your breath away,

as does a gregarious gray jay!

Cheers to you from Yoho National Park in the fall~

Alberta in Color~

Fall is falling in ethereal Alberta.

The Larch Trees,

are turning

glorious gold.

It snowed last night,

dusting the mountains with powder.

You can just see Jim here on the trail of gold!

Soon the larches will drop their needles and winter will arrive.

I have been surprised by wifi reception, but tomorrow we head further north and should be out of range.

Cheers to you from Alberta in the fall~