A new month, and for the moment it really feels as if winter is giving way. We've been getting temperatures up to the freezing level by day, and not too terribly cold at night. I keep forgetting to plug in the block heater on the car and it still starts the next day. The sun is higher in the sky and our hours of daylight noticeably longer. The snow is in retreat, and things just generally feel kind of hopeful. I know we will likely get a few setbacks between now and "real" Saskatchewan spring, which is usually a few weeks sandwiched in sometime in mid to late April, but for the moment I'm enjoying the process. I'm even contemplating switching over to lighter weight blankets for the horse and dogs. Mind you, I'm not going to put the heavier winter ones away for a while, just in case. March and April can be trying months here, since it really seems like it should be a lot nicer a lot faster than is usually the case, but we'll take whatever little breaks we get and be happy for them.
We had a house-guest for a few days last week in the form of Mogo the mini-Dachshund. He is a pretty regular visitor at our "dog bed and breakfast", and as you can tell from shot one, he settles in pretty comfortably on the couch (a forbidden zone for our own large dogs) and keeps an eye on the passing scene out the living room window. He and our grand-dog Arrow often coincide in their visits, and when they both go home, reducing the pack from four dogs to our own two, it seems like not that many dogs at all!
My husband went on a birding outing last week with one of his friends. He commented when he got home about the number of ravens they had seen by a riverbank area on the western edges of the city as they were returning home. I quizzed him about the location and time of day, and vowed to make a pilgrimage myself in hopes of photos. I hit the jackpot yesterday afternoon when I was able to view and photograph about a dozen ravens, plus various other species that were in the area. For the most part the ravens were a little far off, even for my new longer lens, but one seemed to be delegated to keep an eye on me and it would overfly where I was standing with the camera about every five minutes or so. The lighting yesterday was a bit marginal for the lens I had, and I want to have another go in brighter light. Today was a super day, with good lighting, but when I went over to the site in late morning, there wasn't a single raven to be seen. They must all be foraging at the dump (conveniently nearby) for much of the day, so when I go back (I hope tomorrow) I'll try for the late afternoon again. I'm up against migration patterns here as the crows will likely be back in a few weeks, and the ravens will be departing for parts north, so I have a limited window of opportunity. Next winter I'll check this site a lot sooner and see if they are back again.
While I was waiting for the ravens to come a bit closer, I was aware of something coming in on my left, and got this shot of the passerby. I knew it was some kind of hawk or falcon, but didn't know what sort. Jim (birder husband) says it is a Gyrfalcon . A beautiful bird, very calm and focussed in its fly-past. Small birds generally flee in panic and consternation when a predator of this sort appears in the area, but the large and formidable ravens and the gyrfalcon appear to have a "mutual exclusion" pact and just ignored each other completely. There was also a small flock of robins at this site that had wintered over--no migrating robins will be here for a couple of months yet. 
A friend and I met at the barn today to turn our horses out together for a roll and run without blankets and as a photo op for me. Alpac turned out to be the one with the most ambition once they got going. Indy ran around a bit but was overall content just standing around watching. This is kind of funny since Alpac will be twenty this year (getting up there as horses go) and Indy is still a "single digits" youngster, so their roles really should have been reversed. Shot four is one of Alpac from today. Backgrounds aren't as pretty as when the snow was deeper and fresher, but a lot better than it will be when it turns into a sea of mud and disgusting other "organic matter" that has built up over the winter. There are actually a few bonuses to frozen and snow-covered ground! 
Shot five is of a cute young fellow I met at the barn today. There is a new boarder who was out checking on her filly, and as they were getting ready to leave, they made a comment about the dogs in their car. Of course I had to know what kind, and then I had to see them and get a few shots. The female is a French bulldog, and the male (pictured here) is a French bulldog/pug cross. What a cute pair! Visiting dogs are not allowed out of their vehicles at the barn, so they were on orders to stay in the back of the Jeep and not jump out to greet me, which was very hard for them to do, although they both achieved it. That's why this young fellow looks a little put-upon in this shot. He really wanted to jump out and say hello! I hope to get more chances to photograph this pair in future. 
