Tag Archives: wildlife

Swans in the Overhead

I was up at Mukilteo one afternoon when I looked above me when I heard the sound of birds. At first, I thought it was a flock of geese, but a closer look led me to think they must be trumpeter swans. They were flying south, and Paine Field was in the direction of their travel. A flock of swans would be suboptimal for an airfield that doesn’t want to have a Sully moment, but I imagine that they didn’t cause any trouble. Their echelon formations looked very cool as they flew over me. I will have to go to Juanita to see if swans are back in residence at this time of year. A trip to Skagit must be on the cards too.

Are Crows My New Cormorant?

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Cormorants have appeared many times on this blog, and they are clearly my favorite. However, I have noticed more and more that I am photographing crows as well. When the light is right, the feathers on crows really show off interesting colors – colors you never think of for a bird that is effectively black. I saw these birds down by the shore one afternoon as the sun was out and they looked so cool that I couldn’t resist a few shots.

Mole Destroying My Lawn

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Having struggled to keep rabbits out of the backyard to help the grass grow without weeds (and lost that battle), things took a far worse turn this year. Moles moved in and they managed to destroy things far more effectively than any weed could manage. I tried pushing down the ground where they had been but they soon came back and made things worse. One afternoon, I had barely finished treading down the ground when I saw it moving again. I decided to film the motion of this mole under the lawn since it had clearly won the war.

How Nervous are the Coots?

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I have posted shots of coots on Juanita Bay getting attacked by bald eagles and trying to get away while staying as a pack. I was back there a while back and there was a large flock of them out on the lake and they seemed to be constantly taking off and landing. They seemed to be spooked by something and bolting but then settling down before being spooked again. Strangely, there was nothing there. I think they were spooking each other. I did get some shots but it seemed that a video was a better way to convey what was going on so the clip below gives you some idea of how they were behaving.

How Brave Are the Baby Buns?

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The rabbits in our back yard are a regular thing during the summer when the grass must be tasty. We’ve had plenty of smaller ones show up and they seem to have less of a fear of us for some reason. Not sure that is a healthy approach for a small rabbit, but I was able to get quite close with the camera to some of them. It did involve keeping myself out of sight or at least a little away with no sudden movements but here are some of the small buns we had visiting.

Crows Eating the Berries

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Two years in a row, I have seen this in Juanita Bay Park. There are some trees that have some red berries on them in the fall and the crows seem to love them. They can flock to the trees in large numbers sometimes. I assume the fruity casing of the berries is appealing as they do like them. However, when I get closer, the crows seem to get nervous. A little video to add to show one of the crows having a good chomp.

A Family of Elk Along Bow River

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While walking down by the Bow River, we saw a family of elk off in the distance. They were crossing the river downstream. We continued on our walk and, when we finished the loop trail, we were back at the same spot and saw plenty of people on the bridge staring in the same direction. I hurried up to see what was afoot and the elk had moved up the river to close where we were. Oh, how I wish I had a longer lens!

Amazingly, the people along the river seemed to have no interest in the warnings you always get about wildlife. They were getting way closer than seemed wise. The bull elk was a chunky looking fella and, with some of his herd there, I imagine his temper might be tested. Fortunately, nothing went wrong. Interestingly, he had a tree branch stuck in his antlers when we first saw him. He did manage to shake that out after a while. It made him look lopsided!

The Seals They Be a Frolicking

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On a sunny weekend afternoon at Ballard Locks, we were treated to a lot of seal activity. The salmon were not running so I am not sure why the seals were there in such numbers, but they were. Two in particular, seemed to be having a bunch of fun together. They were playing a lot – occasionally pausing to just cruise around before getting back into their play. Everyone was fascinated and I imagine there was a lot of cell phone footage of them from that day.

The Neighbors Are Out When I Get to Work

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As the days get shorter at this time of year in the northern hemisphere, it means I start getting to work in the dark. One morning, I pulled into the parking lot and realized that some deer were munching on the bushes near the office front door. I thought the headlights of the car would startle them, but they seemed totally uninterested. Grabbing the camera from the trunk, I accepted that the dark conditions would mean very high ISO settings but who cares?

I took a few shots and then headed into the office. I figured they would scram as they saw me getting closer but was wrong. I walked right by them, and they only shifted a small amount once I was by. During the pandemic, the animals had taken over the area around the office again, but they have been out of sight for ages now. It was cool to see them back on that morning.

The Northern Flicker is Bug Hunting

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I have written in previous posts about how skittish the local flicker population can be. These woodpeckers are interesting looking birds but hard to get shots of because they fly off whenever they see you. Nancy and I were sitting on our deck when we saw some movement under the eaves of the house behind us. At first, we couldn’t work out what it was. Then we realized it was a flicker. It was moving around under the eaves looking for bugs

A little while later it popped out and then started to move along the rooftop poking under the joints to see what bugs might be there. A progressive examination of the roof followed and then, once it had checked out all that seemed of use there, it moved to the next house to repeat the process. Strangely, it never seemed bothered by my presence watching it. Maybe the food was just so good, it was worth the risk of me being around. Video tells the story better than stills se take a look at some footage I shot below.