We began Saturday with a snow-filled hunt for a Snowy Owl. One had been sighted in our county (and two were sighted in a bordering county) but alas, we were unsuccessful. Our main mission was not to find birds, though, as we were heading to purchase a real Christmas tree. It has been a tradition of ours to get real trees every year. Last year we went to a cut-your-own tree farm and decided to do the same again this year.
With snow lightly falling and seven inches of the white stuff on the ground already, we were definitely in the Christmas spirit. Immediately upon arriving at Williams Tree Farm in Winnebago County, we were greeted by the resident pack of Golden Retrievers. While seeing one Golden is great, and two or three even better, getting to pet and hug seven of the ELEVEN farm-living Goldens is priceless. And while the event reminded us of our Max (who sadly passed away in April), we were delighted for this enjoyable experience.
Video of three of the Golden Retrievers
We rode a horse-drawn wagon out to find our tree (a Colorado Bruce Spruce) which we filmed. There is a lot of background noise but a few things to listen for: horse neighing and dogs fighting over the remains of a rabbit.
We found the perfect tree (which took looking through several great ones) and Birdfreak cut it down. Timber!!
While we were waiting around for the guy to come by and pick up our tree, we spotted a Rough-legged Hawk and heard several Dark-eyed Juncos and American Tree Sparrows. We have found that tree farms have been wonderful for birds and are the only reliable place in the county to find Clay-colored Sparrows (spring/summer).
We had a great morning out in the snow with dogs, birds, and a wonderful Christmas tree. Then it was time to warm up!
Sounds like you had a lot of fun!
We don’t get real Christmas trees on this side of the world, I should be something special to have one, right?
‘Tis the season. I enjoyed reading about your “real” Christmas tree experience. It’s a tradition for my family too. Our farm has labs though, not goldens! 🙂
That explains the 11 goldens you mentioned on twitter. I still think it sounds like a missing verse from THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS.
Looks like great fun, and the fire at the end is the perfect ending.
Ah, yes. It brings back memories of days gone by when we lived in Colorado and would go to one of the nearby National Forests and cut down our own tree. The trees would be marked as to which one could be cut. Thanks for giving us a glimpse of your annual tradition.
Nice post. And the warm greetings by a pack of beautiful goldies might have really been an awesome moment. Well I am a dog lover and canine writer. I just chanced to drop by your site and found an awesome assortment of birds photographies. I am speechless.
If you are a dog lover too, you can drop by my sites and check out what I write about. I am sure you will love them.
http://aringsburgkennel.blogspot.com
and
http://welcomedoglovers.blogspot.com
Please let me know what you think…
Cheers
He has a sweet little face with the personality to match and just looks at you lovingly with those sweet dark eyes
My dog is the son of Belle and Bingo he is the joy of my world!!! Thanks so much for him Belle and Bingo!!!