Aquarium Clowns

My favorite part of the Aquarium was the outdoor otter exhibit. The Sea Otters (Enhydra lutris) seemed to enjoy entertaining us. I got a number of photos of otter tails and the backs of otter heads as they swam past...I think they did it on purpose. Note the wicked canine teeth - all otters are ferocious carnivores of the mustelidae family which includes weasels, mink, and wolverines!

The River Otters (Lontra canadensis) spent more time under the water, and released streams of air bubbles from their fur! It helps kssp them warm in cold water. They appeared to be about half the size of their sea-going cousins. Otters always look like they are having fun!

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!

Alien Life Forms

The best way to describe the amazing creatures at the Seattle Aquarium is to simply say that my Missouri eyes were overwhelmed by color, form and variety! I felt as if I'd landed on a distant planet, surrounded by the unusual, the beautiful, the downright odd...often as I admired something pretty, I'd suddenly become aware that it was moving! The pile of sticks above is actually a sea star!

These creatures, whose identity I do not know, had florescent coloring that truly glowed...I really need to do some Kamana journaling on sea life!

These beauties are one of the many types of anemones that I got to touch in the tidepool exhibit! Kids of all ages are allowed to gently touch the critters...I was surprised to find many of them were soft and squishy! The starfish has a sandpapery feel.

Cyndi and I enjoyed the day so much! It was great fun to take a day off work and be a Seattle tourist! In order to share more pictures of our day, I will post another message tomorrow with bird pics!

A DAy Off!

I'm excited to be going to the Seattle Aquarium tomorrow! I'm taking a day off mid-week, and meeting a friend there. I have 2 free bus passes, and a buy one, get one free coupon for the tickets, so it will be an inexpensive girl's day out.
I hear it's a cool place to spend a day, and I've been wanting to go ever since I arrived here 3 years ago. It's about time...I'll take lots of pictures to share next time I post.
We intend to catch the marine mammals talk and the one on octopuses. And I hear there's a tide pool exhibit where I can touch some of the smaller critters!
Tomorrow, I play!

Urban Wild Things

Early Sunday I walked down the hill to pick up the Seattle Times, and was treated to quite an interesting array of critters! Just a couple of blocks from my apartment, I found a pair of little bucks, velvet now gone from their antlers. The larger of the pair sported a sharp pair of spikes that did not quite clear his ears...I did not realize the other was a buck until I looked at the photos I'd taken. His antlers barely showed at all.
Around the corner and near the highway, I saw a large doe and 2 smaller deer, all standing broadside as if taunting me. They were on the far side of the pasture that backs up against the Starbucks parking lot just around the way...They saw me, and all three animals watched as I continued on my way...the fog was light, but did complicate getting a good photo of the threesome.
Paper purchased, I started back up the steep hill. I hoped to see the deer again, as I'd only been 10 minutes or so in getting the paper. But they were gone...
Just at the crest of the hill where the pasture meets the brushy edge, I noticed something grey and stopped to bring my camera up and use the zoom feature to look...The coyote saw me and bounded into the brush! I only got a glimpse of it, but was happy to know that my run 0f coyote sightings is not over yet!

Coyote Song

I realized just the other day that I have not seen a coyote in a very long time...for a while, I was seeing them everywhere. I had my camera in hand and ready last Sunday when I walked down the hill to get my paper...No coyotes. I think the grass is too high in most of the fields right now for me to see them.
I know they are still around. I heard them howl just after 12:30 this morning...Since I wasn't sleeping, I was happy to hear them sing! I was trying to finish a book , "A New Earth" by Eckert Tolle, and I have to say that I was not enjoying it all that much. The coyotes were a reminder that I needed to put it down and go to sleep...but I expected to get the latest by Suzanne Arruda in the mail today and have it for the weekend. However, it did not arrive :(

Oh well, something to look forward to...and I still have to finish the Tolle book. Parts of it have been good and inspirational, but I just think he's a bit "out there". Or perhaps I was too tired to appreciate it. At any rate, another 20 pages, and I'm done. Tonight the coyotes will have to sing to themselves.

Critters!

I met these guys on a recent walk near a small pond not too far from my apartment . I heard them first, and stopped in the middle of the street to identify the noisy pair in the tall Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata).

The young raccoons (Procyon lotor) seemed as interested in me as I was in them! Raccoons are interesting critters, and I remmember them well from my Missouri childhood. They are frequent visitors to my side yard here in Washington state. Raccoon tracks of ten look like little human handprints!

Crazy Busy

Wow, life gets busy and crazy all of a sudden...end of year stuff at work, staff retreat coming up the 26th-28th, new school year about to begin...Yikes!

I keep forgetting to bring in my disk with photos from my visit with Missouri friends a couple of weeks ago. Pike's Place Market in downtown Seattle with Madonna and Dave, with lunch at Lowell's overlooking the water..then an afternoon on the deck of the B&B where they were staying.

I had a great time, enjoyed catching up with my friends, and loved the quiet of the deck after the noise and commotion of the Market. Even on a Friday it was crowded and loud!



I don't think they got the ultimate Seattle vacation...it was sunny the entire week they were visiting the Hoh Rainforest, Victoria and Seattle. It was actually hotter here than back at their St. Louis area home. They should come back in November and get the rain!

Cool Story About WAS on MSNBC!

I got a photo credit on MSNBC!!! There's a cool story written by one of our recent participants in an adult program, and one of my photos was chosen to illustrate it!
Go check it out...the link takes you to the correct story. The photo is of Laura, a fellow staff member here at WAS. She was in my Residential Program class, too.

The story is about a Walkabout - a wander across the landscape finding water, food and shelter where you can. It's quite a bit more strenuous than most of our classes...and there's no cook. It's a fun trip for the type of person who is interested in survival skills.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32089212/

Friends in the Area and No Rain

My friend Madonna (no, not that one) and her husband Dave are over on the Olympic Peninsula this week, and it's so hot and dry...who visits Seattle and does not get rained on? In the rain forest???

She sent a photo from her phone today, and the sun is shining in the Hoh Rain Forest...It's been shining for a very long time...I LIKE the rain. I miss it, and hope it comes back soon.

I've been aflicted with little migraines of late, and I'm sure it's because the sun has been shining for 2 and a half months.

I'll be taking off Friday to meet Madonna at the pig on the corner by Pike Place Market...I'm happy about that, and hope that we get some real Seattle weather, otherwise she'll think it's just like Missouri.

Waterbugs, Earthworms and Slugs

Interesting critters I've seen recently....this is a really pale Banana Slug (Ariolimax columbianus). A biiiiig worm!!

And a waterbug....with a cool shadow....I never know what I'll see when I head out for a walk.

Bounty

One of the best things about living in western Washington is the amazing bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables - the only thing I've found that we do better in Missouri are tomatoes.

Right now I'm snacking on ripe red Chelan cherries delivered to work by one of our Community School families. Some of my friends gave me a gift certificate for fresh produce and it seems I have a credit! I love the just-picked, locally grown (or just brought over the pass) goodies...Soon, the Bings, my favorites, will be ripe. The Rainiers are the most beautiful of the cherries with their yellow blushed skin, but the darker red cherries are my favorites.

Duvall has a wonderful farmer's market on Thursday afternoons, and I made a point last year to try new vegetables every week. Now I know that I like the Jerusalem artichokes, the chard, the kale...but the fresh fruits are what I crave the most...and the pie from George's Bakery in Fall City...they make pie crust almost as good as Granny did!

I love summers here...

Books, Books, Books!

I was up waaay too late last night trying to finish a book - like that's never happened before:) Now that I have a bit more free time, I've been tackling the precariously tall stack of books I've picked up at garage sales and the library used book table.

Last night I had to give up around midnight with only a hundred or so pages left in "Memoirs of a Geisha", by Arthur Golden. I'd resisted reading it for a long time because I've often found popular novels to be boring or just awful but I've been enchanted with the story. It's well told, and filled with fascinating bits of history...some of it said not to be quite true. And it's a bit depressing to be reminded of all the things women historically have had to do when men abandon them.

Tonight I'll finish those last hundred pages easily, and then it will be time to choose the next book from my stack. I wonder which one I'll choose?

Here are some recent selections I've enjoyed:

• "The Fellowship of the Ring" by JJR Tolkien - you may remember that my friend Madonna sent that one to me a while back...I'd forgotten how the books differ from the movies! It was nice to revisit Frodo and Sam and the gang.
• "High Country" by Nevada Barr - I enjoy the Anna Pigeon mysteries, each set in a different National Park. This one visited Yosemite, a park I have yet to see.
• "The Mastery of Love" by Don Miguel Ruiz _ don't ask me why I'm reading relationship books...I found it at the library used book table, and had enjoyed his "The Four Agreements" some time back.
• "The Grand Finale" by Janet Evanovich - not her best one, and pure fluff. Check out her Stephanie Plum novels for better reading.

As you can see, it's an eclectic reading list...just the kind I like.

The Rock, Part II

Thanks to Whitt, who explained the rock to me...
It's igneous quartz, volcanic, and quickly cooled. The divots and channels are from air bubbles! That's so cool...

Wish I Knew Geology...

I found this really cool rock while we were testing on the sandbar...At first I thought it was a sort of Quartz, but it has a funny texture...

It almost seems to have been pitted by something rubbing on the surface...and the bottom almost looks like some segmented creature was trapped there a while. Anybody know geology?

Tiny Little Feet

These are the smallest deer tracks I've ever seen! We were excited to find them on the sandbar at Chinook Bend near Carnation, WA during the tracking evaluation.
This little black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus) fawn must have frolicked all night in the sand...these little tracks were everywhere! Casey, our evaluator, said that it messed up several of his questions for us...and left a few interesting ones for us to figure out.

The Tracking Evaluation

I've just gotten in from an intense 2-day Cybertracker
evaluation, and I'm worn out, dirty, bloody from blackberry brambles and mosquito bites...and really, really happy!

My official score was an 84, high enough to make me a Level 2 Tracker...and better than that, all 8 of us taking this test scored a Level 2 or better! It was really cool to see people I've been in class with all year doing so well...and a mark of the quality of tracking education we got in this year's Tracking Intensive class at Wilderness Awareness School.

I'm headed home for a shower, and some homemade soup followed by a glass of wine to celebrate! It's been such a fun year and I've learned so much about tracking and wildlife, and myself...and after these past two days, I see how much more I have to learn...I love that tracking is a never ending learning experience!

Another Graduation

I'm kind of excited that I'll be graduating from the Tracking Intensive program tomorrow...and sad that the year is over. I'll take the trakcing evaluation next week, but that's a seperate thing.
When I was a kid, graduation meant the end of something...I see this one much like I saw my graduation from the Residential Program in 2007...as the beginning.

I used to think that once I'd set out on a path there was no changing my mind, no second chance, no do overs.

Now I know better.

From this point onward I can call myself a tracker, and know that it's true. When I was a kid, I used to dream about being someone who could follow marks on the ground, read the stories written there by hoofs and paws...Now I can do that - some times anyway. I'll learn more with experience. We always do.

One thing I'd ask, if life is being kind to you right now, is to go to the web site at www.wildernessawareness.org and make a donation to our yearly scholarship fund. We have an opportunity to double your gift up to $20,000.00 and every bit helps.

I would not have had the courage to come here and do this remarkable thing I've done without the help of the scholarship I recieved - it made a world of difference to me...I hope we can offer the same gift to many other students in the next year. I'm giving $25.00. How about you?

Who's Been Eating the Trees?

Some of the most interesting signs birds and animals leave are not tracks, but feeding sign. Trees seem too big to be "prey" for critters, but I've seen some pretty cool "tree tracks".

In the top photo, taken at Frenchman's Coulee, a porcupine has been taking chunks out of the bark. I've yet to see a complete and clear porcupine track - the ones I've seen have been in loose sand, and not at all clear. However, the clear incisor marks on this tree indicate that one (or more) lives nearby. There's likely a den in the rocks somewhere along the basalt cliffs. It would be worth spending a day there looking for the piles of scat that pour out of a porcupine den...a nice fall or early winter trip. The east side sun will be brutal there in the summer months.

The second photo shows the work of the red-breasted sapsucker...this bird drills holes in the bark to collect sap which then traps insects. I see lots of sapsucker sign here in Washington...On my walk to work -about a mile and a half - I know of 20 trees just along the street that have been worked by these birds...I even saw one once!

I ROCKED!

I just finished up the final weekend of the Tracking Intensive class. Saturday I got to present my dog tracking project to the class.
I spent a lot of time worrying about it. Public speaking has never been my thing. I knew I was on to something, and that my research was valid...and the thought of standing up and telling my classmates and instructors what I'd found was frightening.

One thing I've learned here at Wilderness Awareness School is that people will support you if you ask. My instructor, Dave Moskowitz, reminded me that everyone in the audience would be very interested in the project. I also arranged for a couple of my classmates to tackle me if I bolted for the door!

What really helped was that some of our Elders came in to support me! Many thanks to Pam, Jenn, Walt and his wife Katy, and to Auntie Barbara who all took time on a sunny Washington Saturday to come out and witness my presentation. I had other friends in the room, too. Ellen and Jonathan came - Ellen's dog Taz was in the project, and Jonathan is a tracker and former Rezzie and TI student. Current Rezzie Shondell, who helped with some of the dog tracking was there to support me, too.

I was surprised to find that I enjoyed it! I guess speaking about something you're passionate about is a little different than an assigned topic...I never would have belived that it would be fun.

My Missouri friend Madonna says I have to start owning my power...Yeah, I Rocked!