Two Morning Surprises

We woke to a light dusting of snow on Thursday. It was a surprise, and we loved it. While I was photographing the light and snow on the pond, I wondered if anything ever comes by here to drink, besides the birds.I figured something must. The goldfish seem to be gone for good this time. I've been seeing a Great Blue Heron in the mornings when I open the blinds. I catch just a glimpse of its wings as it clears the firs, and flees.

On Friday, when I opened the blinds, I was greeted by this sight.
Aha! A strange, tail-less raccoon was scooting along the rocks along the pond edge. It stopped to take a drink by the waterfall, then headed toward the orchard,
where it hunkered down comfortably to clean its little front paws. Maybe the heron had some competition for those goldfish after all.

It was a fine warm day. We got out into the garden and scattered wildflower seeds on two prepared flower beds, and planted some dahlias. The pirate planted the blue potatoes in two large pots. It's probably much too early for some of these endeavors, but the warm weather shooed away any thoughts of late winter freezes. Afterwards, we headed out to the nursery/hardware store, but took a detour to the beach where the pirate goes clamming, to see it at high tide.
No sooner had we stepped out of the car when this magnificent eagle sailed over us. I just had time to focus and shoot. I swear it felt like it was looking back at us. (Click to enlarge photos, especially to see if this one was looking down at us!)