I can’t image a better way to start the year than with the visit of a new creature to our magnificent haven.
I thought this was a simple bird huddled up in the cold. Then it turned around! OMG!

It wasn’t much bigger than a small sparrow. You could literally hold it in the palm of your hand. John called it a pigmy owl. I’d never heard of such a thing.  I looked it up online, and sure enough, it’s an actual designation, a Pygmy Owl.  Fantastic!