More sunset photos from Lincoln Park

Just one other reason why I love living in West Seattle.

Last night we went to Lincoln Park to watch the sunset. While we walked along the front we saw a seal swimming out in the distance and a bald eagle fly overhead.

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.

Sunspot

Vapor Trail, Kennewick

I had a request to share some sunset photos and since we haven't seen the sun in a while I thought it would be a good idea.

Lincoln Park, West Seattle

Catching up with the eagles at Lincoln Park

I've finally caught up with the eagles at Lincoln Park. A few posts back I complained about losing track of the eagles once I climbed to the top of the bluff, but since then I've had several sightings of the eagles amongst the trees. In this instance, the eagle spied me as well.

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!)

Red tails and blue skies

It was a gorgeous day in the Puget Sound. After the fog lifted we enjoyed plenty of blue skies. I missed the orcas off Alki Point (although I did see them a couple of months ago from Lincoln Park in the shipping lane) but was lucky to have had 2 different red-tailed hawks sightings. I don't know if it was the same guy, but both sightings were about 2 hours apart and right above my house. All I had to do was run from the front of my house to the back yard. I love watching these big birds soar.

A little too late...

Over the long weekend I have been stalking a juvenile bald eagle at Lincoln Park. I first spied the elusive eaglet on late Saturday afternoon. I was surprised to see him (?) because he was about 200 feet away, perched in low branches along the walking path just north of Colman Pool. It was about 3:30pm and rather crowded with lots of walkers, joggers and sun-seekers. Since my eyes have deceived me before, I wanted to take a closer look at the large, shadowy figure through my binoculars to be sure it was a bird at all before making any sort of declaration to my husband, Brian. After all, it seemed unusual for a raptor to be that close to the ground and I have been laughed at before mistaking a leaf for something much grander. Yes! It was something- something large! I struggled to get my camera without dropping my binoculars and did this while watching the bird start to move. My camera was inside my jacket and while I retrieved it in about 5 seconds- the raptor had come directly toward me and swooped over head. I was only able to get a silhouette of him flying away.

It was only after I replayed the event in my mind that I realized the bird of prey was going after a tiny little chihuahua that was walking ahead of me. I recall the owner quickly scooping the dog in to her arms as the bird made a swift descent.

We stood there stunned and I was a bit upset that I missed a chance at such great photos. An older gentleman on his bicycle had witnessed the spectacular fly-by and told me and Brian it was a juvenile bald eagle. Yes, that would explain the dark mottled color- I was having a hard time identifying the bird because I am a novice and there weren't any white spots developing on the eaglet yet.

We went back to the park on Monday and immediately saw the young eagle on the tree top along the bluff above the pool. We decided to take the path up the slope to get a closer look but of course got disoriented amongst the trees. When we returned to the lower part of the park we saw the eagle fly to the tree top again but was soon chased away by a group of seagulls. We waited several minutes, but saw no sign of him. Just as we started walking away, a man walking toward us exclaimed to his girlfriend, "look a bald eagle!"

We were rewarded with seeing the young eagle soaring with an adult, which reinforced the notion that I need a telephoto lens. Arghh!

Call of the wild

Usually I hear the coyotes hunting in a pack out in the woods really late at night or early in the morning, but last night I just heard one. I'm pretty sure this is the same guy that woke me up last Saturday morning going on a good 30 minutes which I thought was odd since it was daylight (albeit a foggy morning).

This is the first time I got out of bed and tried to record the coyote. There is no image on the video since it was night time- just black and a tiny flashing light off in the distance. Please excuse the background noise due to the freeway and port? It's not as exciting as the pack hunting in a group, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

How do you stop illegal dumping?

Illegal dumping sucks. We often get dumpings in our neighborhood (we are surrounded by greenbelts and parks) and I would guess they are repeat offenders. It seems I report a dump about once every 3 weeks. I wish I could catch them in the act! What bothers me about the dumpings are that a lot of the items could be recycled. Not to mention that I have seen fox and coyote not 50 feet from this dump site.

This is an illustration by me after we got dumped on right across from my house!
It was awful- there were mattresses, clothes, bleach bottles, disgusting garbage...and I had to stare at it for 3 days until the city came and cleaned everything up. I must admit the city does do a good job responding to reported dumpings, but maybe they should try to prevent it through public service announcements and education? Oh yeah- the image is just a representation from my imagination, I did not see a blue truck or the event taking place- I can't believe I slept through it all!

Don't forget to look up. On my way to check out the dump site,
I looked up and saw 2 bald eagles soaring overhead.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a photo of the pair.

Here we snow again...

Snow is falling in West Seattle again for the 2nd day in a row,
although it is not supposed to stick.
I had to take my hummingbird feeder in at night so the food doesn't freeze.
Also, I moved the feeder so it is now sheltered from the snow.


Yesterday evening cloud formation.