Life on the Chautauqua Ridge

Waiting for the sunset atop ice dunes on the beach.

Late winter sunset over the ice dunes on Lake Erie.

White-tailed Deer in an abandoned vineyard this snowy morning.

Say it ten times fast!

This is Rocco, our six year old dachshund. In January he went down with complete paralysis of his back legs and became totally incontinent. He was diagnosed with intervertebral disc disease in his back (IVDD). A disc had ruptured and left him paralyzed. Through the use of acupuncture and laser light therapy, he is back! It was suggested he be "put down" but we tried alternative medicine instead and it worked! Morale of the story: Always get a second opinion and never give up hope!

High winds create huge waves behind ice dunes on Lake Erie this last day of winter.

Hundreds of them! Mostly European Starlings but quite a few Red-winged Blackbirds too. (It was snowing heavily when I took this shot.)

We finally got some sun and the temps went above freezing today. This swan was enjoying the mini "heat wave."

It's so nice to see the Goldfinch transitioning back into their bright yellow breeding plumage!

A touch of frost with a splash of Goldfinch this morning!

It's been hard on the wildlife so far this spring with never ending cold and snow.

From Wikipedia: "Leucism is a condition characterized by reduced pigmentation in animals caused by a recessive allele. Unlike albinism, it is caused by a reduction in all types of skin pigment, not just melanin."

Frozen fog with backlighting from the morning sun.

Spring has finally made it to Western New York State. We had lots of snow melt yesterday, temps in the 50's today and I found skunk cabbage sprouting!