Juvenile Bald Eagle at Port Orchard Marina

On our recent trip to the Port Orchard marina we were puzzled why there were so few birds around, particularly Goldeneye. Usually questions like that go unanswered, but Leslie spotted the reason with her binoculars.

I’ve never seen a juvenile Bald Eagle

sitting in the marina before, though I’ve seen them fly overhead.

I’ll have to admit that I would have been hesitant to walk by eagle, but it finally flew off as we approached, so close that it was impossible to keep it in frame.

The only other bird we saw in the marina was this Double-Crested Cormorant who was sunning itself as we approached.

It didn’t fly off, but paddled elegantly away from us.

Who’s Zooming Who?

The most interesting part of our last trip to Theler was nearly impossible to present as photographs. It required video but I hate hand-held video and I’m not about to carry a tripod with me on my walks.

So, I started looking for alternatives, beginning with slide shows. After several days of searching I found numerous ways to embed slide shows in my blog, but most of them demanded more effort and time than I have at the moment (not to mention they required coding skills I probably lack.)

I settled on Metaslider which can be used as a WordPress plugin and it’s fairly straightforward. I have no idea how Facebook will mangle the results, but I thought I would give it a try.

So, here is a series of shots I took of Buffleheads engaging in mating rituals (I’m pretty sure), though it often appears to be pure chaos at times.

Western Bluebirds at Theler

Haven’t been able to figure out how to present the Bufflehead pictures I took at Theler, so I decided to post these shots of Western Bluebirds, instead, even though they were taken at a considerable distance.

I saw the same Western Bluebirds much closer the week before but never managed to get them to stay in one place long enough to get a decent shot.

These were so far away that I obviously didn’t pose a threat, even if my camera were an M-1. Western Bluebirds have been around Theler for several winters but have never nested there. I can almost imagine them house-hunting and deciding that these bird houses don’t meet their standards.

Both the female

female Western Bluebird

and the male took turns surveying the premises,

male Western Bluebird

but, in the end, both seemed to be looking for a better place,

male and female Western Bluebird

and who can blame them?

We Visit Bloedel Reserve

We haven’t been to Bloedel Reserve since November, so we decided to see what would be there in late Winter/early Spring. We found the first Skunk Cabbage we’ve seen that wasn’t deformed by sub-freezing temperatures.

I’ve been told that Skunk Cabbage is a true measure of when Spring arrives in the Pacific Northwest because it is native to the area.

I know that a number of the plants at the Bloedel Reserve are not native to the area, but seen dispersed throughout the native firs, it’s easy to assume that they, too, indicate Spring has officially arrived.

Personally, the only snow I want to see here in the lowlands is Snowdrops.

The Bloedel gardeners blend native and non-native plants in with the natural habitat.

That’s not to say that I can’t also appreciate non-native flowers like these showy Camellias.