New Year Visitor

I finally put up my Christmas present from two years ago...a suet bird feeder and a lovely Downy Woodpecker has been visiting ever since!

Coyote came a callin'

Early this morning, I was woken from my sleep by the call of my husband. It was still dark out and when I glanced at the clock it flashed 3:30 am. Why did he wake me? Not that I was mad, in fact I was thankful because I was having weird dreams bordering on nightmares. I sat up in bed and felt for my glasses. Once able to see, I forced myself to focus on the silhouetted figure peering out the window. "Quick! Come look at this..." he whispered. Something had triggered the floodlight, but what?!

My mind was racing...was someone out there? Did I need my hockey stick? "What is it?" I demanded- whispering back.

"Coyote- there are 2 at the end of the driveway."

I was out of bed and looking out the window in a second. I could barely see the outline of a large canine at the end of the 50 foot driveway. Yes, it was a coyote indeed. "Where is the 2nd one?" I queried.

"It must've gone in to the bushes." Our property borders a greenbelt along Longfellow Creek and I've often heard coyote in "our backyard." I've heard up to 5-6 running in a pack late at night in the past.

I decided to chance running in to the next room to get my binoculars for a better look. He was still there. The floodlight barely reached him and he stood like the saying "a deer caught in the headlights." He seemed to be looking right at us while I was able to get a close look at this fine specimen. He looked like a healthy adult with a beautiful fine coat. He looked fast and agile. (The first coyote I saw was about 4 years ago when I was on my way to work just after daybreak. The coyote followed the Longfellow Creek trail and sauntered across SW Brandon right in front of me in my truck and 2 girls walking to school. The 3 of us had stopped in awe of the creature that looked old and salty with its matted fur. I have also seen a young, adolescent coyote bound across the road like a jack-rabbit in front of me at about the same time on 2 different occasions).

We watched the coyote until the floodlight dimmed. Then the coyote withdrew back in to the shadow of the woods.

The one that got away

More photos from the Union Bay Natural Area taken almost 2 weeks ago. The trails were quite overgrown with tall grass and we wish we would've brought our machetes. However, I did get to see a female American Goldfinch gathering fluff for its nest and a gorgeous osprey.

Last week I went on the Twin Falls hike near North Bend. We hiked up to the suspension bridge that overlooked the 2nd waterfall and I saw my first male Western Tanager! What a beauty- it had a bright yellow body and black wings with a fiery orange/red head. It flew down in to the clearing and landed on contrasting dark green boughs of douglas fir- which would've made a great photo with the waterfall behind it, but it flew away just after I got a close look at it through my binoculars.

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

After keeping the windows shut all winter, I’ve been trying to air out the house. Although it snowed yesterday and was pretty darn cold, I opened our bedroom window for a few minutes anyway. The window I opened swings out so there isn’t a screen on it and as I was standing there a hummingbird flew not two feet directly in front of me! I stood in stunned awe as the hummer hovered for a moment with a curious look then as quick as it appeared- it was gone. I was half expecting it to come in for a cup of tea.

Well, this morning I decided to open the kitchen window and was serenaded by a beautiful bird while the sun rose. Oh, if anyone can id any of the birds in the background of the raccoon clip I would greatly appreciate it. (I can identify the robin!)

While I was in the office looking for jobs on the internet, I heard an eerie rasping sound coming through the open kitchen window. I’ve come to recognize this sound as one of the resident raccoons and went to investigate. Yep, there he was sauntering around the yard. I went out to get a closer look (but not too close) and discovered two other raccoons he was going to meet in one of their favored trees. After I observed them for a while from inside the house, two of them moved to a neighboring plum tree while the other remained in the crook of the first tree.

Hopefully my neighbors didn't see me running around looking like a right wally in my pajamas outside. (Oh yeah- they're all at work!)