Month: May 2008

Oh, That’s Just Too Cute

If you follow this site at all, you probably realize that I’ve spent a lot more time outdoors than I have inside reading since the sunshine returned, at least until tomorrow. Unfortunately, much of that time has been spent working in the yard.

Fortunately, the rest of it has been spent out walking. Sunday was no exception. We spent the day at Theler Wetlands in Belfair.

I got a few bird shots and some shots of plants, but just to prove I’m not beyond an appeal to blatant sentimentality to boost readership, I thought I’d resort to two shots of fawns with their mommy that Leslie pointed out to me while I was fixated on getting pictures of a Spotted Towhee.

Here’s the first shot:

Deer with two fawns

And here’s a better, second shot.

Deer with two fawns

Of course, when I took the second shot I actually thought there was only one fawn in the shot because I didn’t see the one hiding under the mom. Thank goodness for cheap, digital “film.”

Amazing

At Nisqually last Monday, two young ladies told me that they were looking for a Brown Creeper nest, explaining that Brown Creepers generally build their nests under a piece of bark. As I was finishing my walk Friday, I saw a Brown Creeper climbing up a tree near the parking lot.

I sensed immediately that the Creeper must be building a nest, perhaps because that’s what I’ve been seeing all week. Sure enough, as I watched the Creeper carried a twig up the tree

Brown Creeper

ducked down into an opening in the bark

Brown Creeper

and disappeared from sight,

Brown Creeper

only to emerge a few seconds later

Brown Creeper

and fly off to gather more nesting material.

In the three years I’ve been birding, I’ve never managed to get a decent shot of a Brown Creeper, but armed with a new awareness I manage to get some great shots within a few days.

Probably pure coincidence, but I still find it completely Amazing.

Nisqually Flowers

I’ve been feeling a little envious of the beautiful wildflowers that Kerrdellune has been showing on her web site, so I purposely set out with two cameras Friday when I set out for Nisqually, my 400mm lens for birds and a closeup lens for flowers.

Considering the 80 degree, plus, temperature, close-to-if-not-quite a record temperature this time of year, it seemed a little strange to still find a considerable number of spring blossoms from pure white

White Blossoms

to pinkish-white blossom on long-abandoned fruit trees.

Pink and White Blossoms

But it’s certainly been that kind of cool Spring so far. I still haven’t planted the corn because I was afraid it would rot in the ground. This wild variation of a bleeding heart has also been blooming for several weeks now.

wild Bleeding Heart

Still the whites and pink are quietly giving way to the blues of lupine

lupine

and the brilliant yellows of dandelions, buttercups and this splendiferous “weed”

yellow flower

that I’ve been unable to identify so far, but is still spectacular enough that it inspired me to carry an extra camera with a close-up lens because I was unable to get a photograph of the only one I saw Monday with my telephoto lens. Needless to say, there were dozens blooming Friday.