Even though the least total daylight of the year occurs on the winter solstice, the earliest sunsets of the year occur this week, and they can be spectacular.

Winter flocks have come together. Concentrated further with each snow storm we get chickadees, cardinals, bluejays, juncos, nuthatches and titmouse; give yourself a ringside seat by putting out a birdfeeder this winter.

Trees and animals depend on each other for their mutual survival. Acorns, pictured here, have a protective package on the outside, allowing them to be safely transported, some eaten, some buried to sprout elsewhere.

”Blackbird” flocks can be seen any time of day this time of year, sometimes in tight blobs of shape shifting flocks called ”murmurations” like this one at the most common time to spot them, around dusk.

No, this isn’t a pile of sprouting chia seeds — it’s sporulating moss, stimulated by the recent rains.