Pardon my absence and that of the Species Parade. Between exciting holiday visits, a death in the family, and the development 
of the Best Horse Practices Summit, time got away from me.
Last month, we mourned the loss of Belle, our 12-year old Basset Hound mutt. From all indications, she met her end when confronting a mountain lion, about a half mile from home. Read more about it here.
Perhaps because of mourning or my growing distaste for really cold weather or the fact that animals after all tend to lay low in winter, I haven’t seen much.
At least one Golden Eagle has been dining regularly on the many, many turkeys in our canyon. I find feathers and feet. My neighbor caught on video an eagle shredding its prey under some junipers. I saw the ginormous raptor honing in on a flock of turkeys while I was skiing. It was like a Boeing/Airbus battle. All the turkeys got away, but I suspect their safety was only temporary.
Mammals:
Coyote
Elk
Mule Deer
Cottontail Rabbit
Brush Mouse
Rock Squirrel
Skunk
Western Screech Owl
Mountain Lion
Birds:
Golden Eagle
Bald Eagle
Lewis’s Woodpecker
Clark’s Nutcracker
Downy Woodpecker
Nuthatch
House Sparrow
Red-Winged Black Bird
Canada Goose
Mallard
A cold Townsend’s Solitaire
Townsend’s Solitaire
Red Shafted Flicker
Steller’s Jay
Black Capped Chickadee
American Crow
Common Raven
Scrub Jay
Magpie
Turkey
Dark-Eyed Junco (and its many varieties)
Ringed Turtle Dove
Rock Dove
American Kestrel
Turkey Vulture
Red-Tailed Hawk
Starling
American Robin
Great Horned Owl
Western Screech Owl