Happy Holidays to Friends and Family All

 

Saying Goodbye to 2020 is for sure a welcome theme in many venues. The focus of this card is on the plus side of 2020, which largely includes our yard and its colorful bird visitors, plus a focus on many good past memories. 

 

In a short personal recap of 2020, Bill survived back surgery in late Feb…. then Covid-19 became a serious reality in early March. As of now, Sally and Bill plus family have escaped contracting Covid-19. We do know some friends that have got it and have recovered. We also have some friends with family members who have succumbed. 

 

On the bright side of semi-quarantining, our wonderful yard filled with wild birds and other wildlife has really kept our spirits up. Plus, Bill kept fishing from May into November, often taking Sally to view the seabirds and dolphins, and our freezer is now well stocked with fresh fish for winter. 

 

Sally and I do have some fond 2020 pics and some extra special memory pics to share with all. To keep it logistically simple, I have chosen to put the pics up on this blog.

 

With sincere wishes for a Healthy, Happy and Safe 2021.

Much Love to All,

Bill and Sally

 

PS - To view pics full size, click on a pic, it will enlarge and have a pic selection scroll bar under it. Note that the captions are only visible on this home page.

 

Sally and Bill in Antarctica in 2007. This was our first big trip after we both retired.

King Penguins at Salisbury Plain

Bill, Emily, Mike and Sally in the Galapagos 17 years ago.

Son Mike, his wife Angelica, and their two children Sabi and Teo.

Our daughter Emily and children Ando and Sefi.

 Andrew, Emily's hubby and master chef

Father Andrew leads the minnow seining crew

Full Moon Jan 8, 2020. Sure looked like a good start to 2020

 

Spring was colorful with great Azalea blooms

Indoors, Sally has mastered growing Clivia

Backyard birding, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak was our 1st special spring arrival

As an experiment, we put out raisins for the Robins. They loved them!!!

 

A little bit later the resident Brown Thrasher caught on.

And in August, for some mysterious reason, Bill took up mothing. The above is his signature moth, the Black-dotted Ruddy, Hodges # 6711

Now back to our longtime friends, the Screech Owls. They have been nesting in boxes we put up and maintain for about 30 years now. We are sure not the same owls, but interestingly, usually a red and a gray morph. The above composite pics were taken this Dec.

And lastly, plus most special, as of Dec 18 we still have an adult male Ruby-throated Hummingbird visiting our feeders. The feeders are kept unfrozen by taking in at night and out just before dawn. They will very  soon have heaters to keep them thawed all day in below freezing temps.  We know from our neighbor with many Camellias in bloom, that the hummer is also feeding on them.