This may be a week to hunker down and watch the feeders.

Not many snowy owls have appeared this year, but the consolation prize is the appearance of short-eared owls.

I recommend you find a good duck pond near you, preferably one with some ice, and see what the eagle situation is.

What we lacked in numbers of the common owls, we made up for with encounters with some of the more sought after species.

Looking at waxwings and eiders to find their unusual relatives among the flocks.

The first results are in.

Big flocks of birds tend to draw in other birds, including any lost waifs from elsewhere. Sometimes just looking out the window can reveal a rare bird in your yard.

The Atlantic puffin is a real crowd-pleaser. While people know them as a nesting bird of rocky Maine Islands in summer, small numbers winter in deep Massachusetts waters.

A limpkin visited Scituate and a common cuckoo visited New Hampshire in recent days.

Turkeys have a role to play in the emergence of that pest du jour, the Lone Star Tick, and the weird red-meat allergy they transmit, alpha-gal syndrome. You could say that when it comes to alpha-gal, turkeys giveth, and turkeys taketh away.