What a Way to Spend a Saturday!

I'm not the partying kind...You won't find me dancing on a tabletop in my underwear at midnight while baying at the m0on and wearing a lampshade as a hat. Let that picture sink in...
Sometimes, though, I receive an invitation that's too good to pass up. Saturday I enjoyed a homemade wine tasting party up on Lake Margaret. It was a lovely, sunny and warm spring day. I laid for a while on the dock soaking up the vitamin D while fishermen cast into the clear water. Lake Margaret is home to a small population of native Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) , or so I hear.
The wine was good, the company pleasant, and Shannon's rabbit tart, beef liver pate, and bacon-wrapped dates with goat cheese were amazing.
I liked CW's dandelion wine. Jonathan's plum wine was good, but his blackberry wine was my favorite. Cyndi and Max brought a lovely raspberry meade and a tasty elderflower cordial. I tried them all over the course of the afternoon. We (10 or 12 of us at the height of the party) all enjoyed the array of food and drink without anyone behaving badly.
The highlight of the day was watching an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) catch a fish then try to keep it when the Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus luekocephalus) swooped in to take it away!

Sing!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks in my life...we had a bad scare with my new little great niece who was very ill. She's better now and breathing on her own...should get to go home again soon.

It seems that someone I care about has been in danger ever since August...a nephew in his 2nd tour of Iraq, my brother who had a stroke in September, my sister's trip to Peru (which went very well - she got to assist a dentist on the mission trip), my niece, who had trouble with her pregnancy that resulted in the early arrival of little Aubrey...friends who had accidents or surgeries...Mom, who is always a concern because she doesn't always take good care of herself. Sometimes it seems too much to deal with. What can I do about any of it anyway except to pray and worry?

I'm really, really glad that I do remember to pay attention to the beauty around me. I heard this sparrow singing on my walk to work recently...a reminder that no matter what craziness is going on in my life all is well with the world. This little bird was announcing to everyone that Spring is here. It reminded me that even with all the challenges, life is good.

Never mind the fog that covered the valley that early morning - sing! Sing for all the good things that abound. Sing for joy! God's grace is sufficient for the day. How is it that little birds are smarter than we are? I'm here, I'm happy, and I will sing!

Sapsucker Visit

This beautiful Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber) landed on the tree I was leaning against just outside my apartment...It seemed to want me to move! I gave it a bit of space, and the bird rounded the tree and went right to the spot I'd been leaning against. Only then did I see the fresh holes drilled into the bark. It was fascinating to watch the bird feed - then my cell phone rang...
Since the call was from my 80 year old great aunt, I answered...the bird stayed! We talked, and I even went inside for my camera. The bird startled a bit when I returned, but did not fly away! So, phone in one hand and camera in the other, I started to take pictures...Still, the bird stayed. My aunt hung up after we had talked for about 15 minutes. I continued to watch the bird and take photos until dark - another 10 minutes or so.
It's the first time watching my sit spot was more interesting than watching the world from my sit spot! I am truly blessed.

Birds at the Seattle Aquarium

I believe that this is a Long-Billed Curlew (Numenius americanus), who was fun to watch as it poked it's long beak into the sand...as a tracker, I should know that the resulting holes -behind the bird, at the edge of the greenery - was feeding sign, but I would not immediately think of this bird. Many birds feed this way. Trackers have to be aware of the local species when looking at sign (and tracks).

This is a Golden Plover- Pacific, I believe (Pluvailis fulva). It was a quiet bird, hardly moving from this spot. I liked the bright yellow and black markings.

I took better photos of this Black Oystercatcher (Haemotopus bochmani), but this is the only one that shows his bright orange beak and his pink feet. What a mismatched bird! I'd love to have seen the tracks it would leave, but it seemed to favor the rocks. Those toes look like they would leave some awesome tracks!

Big Fish

For those of you who thought I don't know that a Bullfrog is an amphibian and not a reptile, give yourselves 30 points for noticing...Writers need editors, and mine was asleep at the keyboard.

My vacation adventures continued and I feel really lucky to have seen a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodius) catch a fish that was almost too big for it to swallow! I often see the big bird at McCormick Park and have taken many, many pictures of it. Some of them have even been good. I've watched it hunting and have missed the chance to get a pic of it diving after fish.

On Thursday afternoon, I was there with the camera when I noticed the critter was stalking it's prey. As I shot pics, it sank deeper into the water and slowly stretched out it's neck...and I missed the shot of the dive.

It came up with a fish - a big fish - and moved to shore. From the far bank, I took picture after picture as it tried to figure out how to eat the fish...I could see the fish flopping and watched the bird try to maneuver it into position...The bird paced the shoreline, shook the fish, used it's feet to try to turn it...The fish continued to flop.

Many pics later, and after I started to fear that the bird would choke on it's meal, it finally managed to swallow the fish. What a lucky time to be passing by with a camera!

I am trying to upload some pics, but there are "errors" so I'll try again later.

9.2 Miles

So yesterday after my early morning neck adjustment, I stopped at Tressa's and had a cup of Chia tea and a wonderful blackberry/cream cheese scone. Then I hit the trail at McCormick Park for a short walk...

Instead, I wound up walking all the way to Carnation on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail. I didn't plan to go that far. But I did have a water bottle and a protein bar, so when I got to the highway where I generally turn around...I just kept walking. Sorta reminded me of Forset Gump when he ran across the USA. Every time I decided to turn back, I'd see something interesting ahead and I just kept going...

So, how long did it take me to walk 9.2 miles? 3 1/2 hours.

How many cool animal sightings did I have? Zero...unless you count the undetermined small rodent that crossed my path.

How many cool birds did I see? Let's see...at least 5 varieties of duck, Canada geese, Great Blue Heron, 2 hawks (one I heard, and just barely saw as it flew behind me - the other was beautiful. I wish my hawk ID was good. It was large, dark, and as it lifted off the ground, I noticed the really beautiful rusty reddish brown leggings.) There were lots of smaller birds of course, most of which I noticed then passed by without stopping to appreciate.

Reptiles? Oh yeah! I heard one big Bullfrog, and saw 11 Garter snakes...Eleven!

How many times did I think I heard a bear? Just one, but it gave me a scare. I hadn't planned to hike so far...I was alone...no one knew where I was, or when I was supposed to be back...Not very good hiker behavior. I had my cell phone, but could not tell exactly where I was at any given time...I did take note of the few signs I saw along the way. "I'm south of the Oxbow Farm sign", I could tell them...how far would not be more than a guess.

How long did I sit at the bus stop in Carnation before I caught one headed to Duvall?
About 3 1/2 hours...I could have gotten home nearly as fast if I'd walked back. Next time I'll ride to Carnation and hike back. Preferably with friends.

Funniest sight along the way? Where the trail crosses Highway 203 - the major north-south route in the area. There's a BIG yellow sign that cautions hikers to "LOOK BEFORE CROSSING"

Was it fun? You bet!