First drive of 2010

I woke up this morning expecting that the weather was going to be cloudy with flurries but I looked outside and saw a beautiful shining moon with no clouds in sight so I packed up my stuff and headed out to see what I could find. It was very cold and windy but it was beautiful out. The moon was setting on one side and the sun was rising on the other. I checked some of my usual spots but saw nothing so I decided to take a drive to a place where there are sometimes snowy owls. I saw a few hawks along the way and then once there I found two snowy owls in two separate locations bundled up on the ground trying to stay warm while catching some zzzzz's. One was heavily barred while the other was almost completely white. The most excited thing though was as I was driving I saw this dog like shape sprinting towards me from across the field, which isn't that unusual since a lot of farmers dogs chase my car as I drive slowly down the road, but as it started to get closer I realized it was a coyote and it was heading almost right towards me. I quickly rolled down the window, shut off the car and started taking pictures. It was beautiful. It had his full winter coat in effect and man it could move fast. I managed to snap a few shots before he crossed the road about twenty feet in front of my car. After he crossed the road he did their common behaviour of looking back to see if I was a threat or not but it barely slowed down at all. In a flash it was all over and it left me with a smile on my face that lasted the entire drive home. Brushes with nature like this are just amazing and I cherish each one I have.