For me the answer is usually, “Go birding,” which is what I did this morning. Before I got out of bed, I had rather hoped to hear the Great Horned Owls that I have heard the last couple of early mornings (around 3:30-4:30) to begin the new year, but all was silent. I got up, cared for our dog (feed, take out), fed the birds, and drove south from Wausau to the Buena Vista Grasslands. This is usually about a 45 minute drive, but the roads were covered with new snow so it took a bit over an hour to get there.

When I arrived, it was still totally dark, except the new snow cover, while only an inch or so deep, made it possible to see vague outlines of protruding grasses. I drove to a site where I had seen a Short-eared Owl at 7:12 am on December 3rd. Today, at 6:54 I first saw a dark blob that seemed to be moving, and I turned off the car. Very soon, I could see an owl with beautifully patterned wings, confirming that my first bird of the year was a Short-eared Owl. Then I was even more delighted to see that there were two of them, doing slow gentle pirouettes, dives and close-to-the-surface skims together over the field. After about 15 minutes they just disappeared, presumably diving down into an area of taller grasses for their daytime rest, although I could not find them there when I drove along the road in the daylight.

It was a wonderful way to begin the new year!