The Other Pic I Got

I took about 20 photos of this little weasel (pun intended)...most of them turned out to be pics of where she was just a moment before...Still, I'm delighted to get 2 pictures of such a rare animal!

Rare Sighting

Hey! I see you! This little guy was a special treat, as we've only just started to see him/her on our land near Duvall, Washington.
One of our adult program instuctors noticed this Short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea) during a class. The hole that it's popping out of is about the size of a quarter. It's at the base of as stump just a few feet from the woodshed outside Malalo, the rustic 8-sided structure where we hold many of our ceremonial events at Wilderness Awareness School. I signed up at the last minute for a 2 day wilderness first aid and CPR class...my certifications had expired, and now that I'm beginning to lead some small groups on my own, I figured I should take care of that...and I like to be up at the land. I took my camera along hoping to see this guy (or gal). And see it I did...getting photos was much harder. They move really fast!

The Short-tailed weasel is a tiny member of the mustelid family, and is a vicious little killer! The instructor saw it take a vole into the burrow, and then return several times with infant voles. For an animal about 8 inches long, that's some feat! I like cute little furry critters with teeth.

Babies in the Woods

Look!

Baby squirrels! It doesn't get any cuter than these guys peeking out of their front door.

The trail in McCormick Park is a good place to find babies of all kinds this spring. There are many birds that nest in the trees along the path.

I saw baby Mallard ducks yesterday, swimming fast and diving underwater...the poor mother was hard pressed to keep an eye on them all. The Great Blue Heron that hunts there was sure watching them, but had to settle for a fish!

I've Seen the Tracks...Now Here Are the River Otters!

I was starting to think that otters are invisible...I've seen tracks on the sand bar near Index, on Osprey Swamp at the school land, and at several of the interesting places I've gone on field trips...but no otters. Then, the day before Thanksgiving, I needed to get my oil changed. I dropped my vehicle off at the garage and walked up hill to the trail at McCormick Park. I thought I'd walk a while until they called me to come get my car.

Five hours later, I got the call...still, I felt like I'd had a great day, and I would not have seen this pair if it had only taken the hour I expected. The River Otter (Lontra canadensis) is a member of the mustelidae family. They are both playful and wicked carnivores - kind of like me!

This pair seemed to enjoy looking at me as much as I enjoyed watching them...they hung around for about 20 minutes while I shot pictures until my camera battery ran down. I'm really glad that I got to see these beautiful animals - the trail is just 2 blocks from Highway 203, and the trail is used by walkers (with or without dogs), bikers, and the occassional horseback rider. Who would guess that otters would live so close to such an active trail?

The big coyote (Canis latrans) appeared at the edge of the path between Linne Doran and Mosswood Hollow.

He was beautiful, long-legged, and in fine condition with that happy canine grin that means the world is a good place today. I saw him at the same instant that I hit the ignition key, and he melted into the greenery. Ghost dog...

What does it mean when the same wild animal keeps appearing - in midday, and in places you don't expect to see one? In six weeks or so, I've seen 3 coyotes in 3 different places, and each has taken me by surprise. I've seen them before, of course. I've heard them howl - a sound that I love to hear in the evening. I've tracked them in Missouri, Oregon and here in Washington.

There just seems to be something mystical about my sudden ability to find them everywhere...or are they finding me?

The photo above is of the female I saw last month in McCormic Park. The first was along Cherry Valley Road as I went to the land for a staff meeting on a recent Sunday. This last one appeared at the end of the Plants for Food and Medicine course that I helped out at. Both of these appeared to be males. She's the only one I've seen when my camera was at hand...

I wonder if ghost dogs appear in pictures anyway?

A Walk in the Park.

So my boss made me take a day off. It was sunny and warm on Monday, and I decided to walk down to McCormick Park here in Duvall and just wander. What a great naturalist's day!


The first thing I noticed was that there were LOTS of birds around (and in the interest of time and space, today I'll not bother with the Latin names). There were Mallards and Wood Ducks on the water, and a couple of duck varieties that I have to look up. Robins, Redwinged Blackbirds, Sparrows, Kinglets, Stellar's Jays, Thrushes, and many more were singing and/or going about the business of the day.

Plants are putting on new growth, and lots of them are in bloom. I saw that others are picking the young Stinging Nettle plants - I like mine in potato soup!

I saw a bunch of young Garter snakes sunning themselves in the leaves by a bridge abutment. They were only 5 inches long (a guess, as I didn't measure).

Iwas taking pictures of a Chipmunk that was busily eating cherry blossoms when one of the Residential Program students, Kate, caught up with me. We walked on south together and watched a pregnant coyote in a field of dandelions. On the way back, Kate found a Hummingbird nest with eggs! I'm really looking forward to my next day off!