Splish! Splash!

While sitting on the futon this morning, reading the March musings of Ann Lovejoy in The Garden in Bloom, I heard a commotion outside the window. I looked to the garden plot, which is partially covered with plastic to warm the soil. We had a bit of rain the other day, so a puddle formed in the corner, apparently forming a neighborhood bird bath!

Several robins, those signs of spring, appeared on the scene, flashing red breasts and bright eyes.


A sparrow came in for a quick drink before returning to the forsythia bush and his chirping companions.


One of the flickers joined the group and took a bath after the robins.

A starling dropped in for a dip in the water. I love the yellowness of its beak against its black feathers.

The birds left as quickly as they came - when a large roaming neighborhood cat appeared on the scene. Diva Dog barked and chased the cat. Good Dog!! :-)

We really do want to set up a birdbath for our feathered friends - it's a joy to see and hear them in our backyard. Wing Nut also loves learning about the different types of birds in the area and frequently pulls out the Audubon books to try and figure out what she just saw.

Pic Flamboyant

A Northern Flicker having her "déjeuner sur l'herbe" out in our backyard. What's for lunch? Ants. Not quite certain if it is a "red shafted" or a "gilded". While this is one species of woodpecker that is strongly migratory, they are common in our area year round. Listen.

Eagle Watching

Every winter, hundreds of eagles come to the Skagit River to feast upon the spawning salmon. We drove about 2 hours northeast of Seattle into the foothills of the Cascade Mountains to see some of the majestic birds.

It was cold and gray, but that is apparently better viewing weather for eagles. When it's warm and sunny, they soar up and ride the thermal currents. A few professional photographers (with enviable cameras & lenses) were there as well as bird watchers. They told us the majority of the eagles had moved on to other sites; we were about a week or so late. We did manage to see, at a distance, about 10 eagles, mostly sitting in the trees. There are two eagles in each photo below.


Here are some close ups on the eagles.

One eagle did fly ovehead and I was able to snap a series of pictures of it. With a little computer wizardry, I was able to make this panoramic photo.

We also saw a great blue heron standing on a tree stump near the river's edge. It stood very nicely for me to take its picture.


There was a bit of snow on the ground, so we romped around with Diva Dog. We drove to a park recommended in our dog guide to let her stretch her legs (and ours) for a while. We saw some amazing trees, ferns, and other foliage.


It never ceases to amaze me how green this state is year round. I'm also frequently amazed by the natural beauty here.

More Hummingbird Sightings!

We've noticed the hummingbirds zooming around the hillside garden a few times. Our neighbor even said she and her girls noticed hummingbirds in our lovely garden. I've tried a few times without luck to get photos of them. Of course dead batteries in the camera once or twice didn't help.

This morning, after walking Diva Dog, I noticed two hummingbirds flying around. We carefully went inside, hoping not to disturb them too much. I got the camera and stationed myself at the side window in the bedroom which overlooks the hill. With some patience and a lot of luck, I managed to snap these photos.

Look closely at the right side of the blue-black sage and to the left of the agastache, roughly in the center of the picture.

Here's a close up of the hummingbird. You can almost make out the wings.

Here are two more photos of the hummingbird, again at the blue-black sage, but this time on the far left.



The wings are a blur, but the body, face and beak are much clearer. I belive this is an Anna's Hummingbird.

I'm looking forward to using the new tripod and testing the shutter speed settings on the camera to hopefully get more photos. Wish me luck!

Hummingbird sighting!

Curmudgeon and I took Diva Dog for a walk before dinner this evening. When we returned, I heard a buzz and saw a blur. We quickly looked up and noticed a hummingbird buzzing over the hillside garden. It was hovering over the mystery plant and the lavender. Ivette asked how on earth we'll get a picture of the hummingbird. I don't know yet, but I'll work on it. Here's a website that has a picture of agastache and a hummingbird: http://www.highcountrygardens.com/agastache/ (okay, so that's cheating a little!)

I saw the hummingbird once earlier this summer. I had just finished planting the agastache (hyssop or hummingbird mint) and heard a buzzing over my head. It flew down to check out the agastache, which wasn't even blooming yet. The one we have is very fragrant - rich licorice scent. I told the hummingbird to come back in a few weeks when it was blooming. Well it's blooming now and my little feathered friend is back too! I love gardening! :-) I'll have to keep an eye on it to figure out what kind it is. We saw it a few times last summer, so we planted more things to attract it.

Here are some pictures of the hillside garden and the agastache. The garden area is about 14 ft wide by about 30 ft long. When we first moved in, the weeds (blackberries, wild clematis-like thing, morning glory and dandelions as big as your head) were dense, tall, thick and frightening. The vines came from the rock wall (that we didn't know we had for the first 2 years!) and the neighbor's yard and reached all the way to the sidewalk. We've been cutting, digging, pulling, and doing our damnedest to get them out. I even bought a machete!! Word of advice - a machete blade will throw sparks if you hit it on rocks. They aren't faking it on "Survivor." Be sure not to cut when things are too dry.

These pictures are from earlier in the spring. The agastache and lavender hadn't started blooming and we were still working on clearing out the bottom of the hill. Notice who has decided to take a nap amongst the impatiens! The red flower is a hibiscus. Oh yeah, and the striped grass which we think looks really cool with the hibiscus is actually considered a noxious weed here in WA! Ooooops!