Your world can flip from right-side-up to upside-down in a heart — or even wing — beat

I love to photograph Ridgefield in the rain but the last day of the year dawned sunny and cold. The cold was key as I had a chance at wildlife in frost, but so was the sunny as the chance would be brief.

Near the start of the auto tour a distant coyote limped across a frosty meadow. Not much else was going on as I drove all the way round to Rest Lake to look for the bitterns that had hunted there the past couple of weeks. The bitterns weren’t around so I settled in to watch the swans, eventually moving on to a nearby heron.

The sun was up now and the frost melted fast but the light was beautiful, and since the heron was nicely set against the frozen lake I settled in for some pictures. What I wanted was a good wide yawn and after a long wait I eventually got a couple.

I was about to move on when I saw a young bald eagle harassing the ducks and then flying in my direction. Suddenly there were two great pairs of wings and level flight turned to chaos. An adult eagle had flown in to defend its territory and I struggled to keep them in frame as they somersaulted through the air. This picture is rather soft because the focus was off, but I love the look of the juvenile flipping onto its back to defend itself.

A good way to end the year.

I didn’t get my pictures of ice or frost, but the next day the new year started with bitterns hunting on the ice, and the next day brought otters and raccoons on the ice.

A good way to start the year.