A winter day

K awakened happy and hopeful but seemed sore once she started moving.

We went for our short stroll in the forest this morning. A flock of nuthatches was singing from pointy tops of the pine trees, to my surprise.

K seemed tired. I wasn't surprised because I was as sluggish as a hibernating bear. The stress of the past week had sapped the last of my energy, and I wasn't even the one who had surgery. That girl kept closing her eyes while we were outside - perhaps starting to doze.

Out in the bright sun of the meadow, K perked up, surveying her domain.

Despite my fatigue, I took advantage of the Runner being home to keep K company, leaving me free to head out for a long snowbike ride. One trail wended along a contour on a canyon wall. Sun never touches it in the winter so it looked and felt arctic.

Later in my ride, I emerged onto a sun-bathed ridge where the sunniest areas had melted down to dirt. I enjoyed feeling the sun on my back and working up a sweat.

Alas, my plan of clearing my mind with a long ride didn't work. I feel downtrodden. I'm trying really hard not to let K know. I'm about to curl up with her for a snooze.

Earlier this week, I wrote about a red fox carcass that my friend and I found cached under a pine tree, probably by the mountain lion who killed him. When we visited the site, we also saw signs that a bear had fed upon the fox - so at least one bear is still awake! I placed a wildlife camera pointed at the carcass to see who visited. Alas, too little meat remained to attract the big carnivores. However, corvids, birds that scavenge on dead animals, spent the next three days at the site.

A pair of magpies stayed almost all day every day. One of them always served as the "watchbird", perching on a branch just above the kill and cawing when anyone came nearby. Meanwhile, the other magpie gorged upon the fox. After a while, they'd switch positions. They sometimes interacted during the switch. My camera never captured a perfect photo of it but I believe that the one who was just eating fed some meat to the one descending from the perch. Magpies mate for life so I'm guessing that this is a bonded pair.

Later, a single raven swooped in. Ravens are like gigantic crows. The raven picked up the forelimb of the fox and, to my astonishment, flew away while carrying it. I'm guessing that the leg weighed as much as the raven.

When I arrived on the scene to pick up my camera, I spotted the leg resting on a downed tree about 4' off the ground. I guess that's where the raven chose to sit and feed on it.

Another winter day passed... and another day with my K. I'm hoping that her discomfort starts abating soon. She's now in an E-collar because she keeps licking her bandage. It makes me sad to see my poor girl in pain.