Hello, Dear Friends, it's been quiet and still here in
the foothills of Mt. Rainier, and the little creatures
in our corner of the woods are enjoying the solitude.
Except this little guy - a male Annas Hummingbird.
He is tiny but fierce, as he defends his nectar feeder.
You can see him looking around, ready to chase off
any other contender.
Luckily for his rivals, I have two other feeders to keep them
all happy.
Soon, the Rufous Hummingbirds will arrive from their
spring migration, and he will be very busy!
The Annas Hummingbirds are year-round residents here,
as we have relatively mild winters due to the moderating
south Pacific currents off our coastline.
This little Song Sparrow has been a regular around here. I frequently see him/her
searching my back deck looking for insects, even when I am just
a few feet away.
I am so happy to have this little sweetie around, because I so enjoy
the beautiful songs all spring and summer.
We have Chestnut-backed Chickadees and Black-capped Chickadees.
When it is hot, they will sit in the pear tree by my hydrangeas
when I water, and let me spray them
while they rustle their feathers,
all the while chattering happily to each other.
A Spotted Towhee looking for grubs.
We have a nesting pair here.
Our beautiful Steller's Jays.
It is difficult to photograph them, as they move very quickly.
These intelligent birds mate for life and stay within 10 miles of their
place of birth.
They are the watchdogs of the forest, mimicking the calls of hawks
and eagles as a warning to others.
They fearlessly harass them if they make the mistake of
coming into their territory, attracting other jays
from the surrounding area to join in.
The common American Robin.
Still wet from the bath.
We have year-round residents and also migrators
that arrive in early spring.
I always know when they arrive as they eat all the remaining
holly berries off the trees.
They also sing from dawn to dusk and sometimes
later, all spring and summer.
They are very territorial and will attack their own reflection
in the windows!
Yum!
A Dark-Eyed Junco searching for insects in the moss of the
Big-Leaf Maple tree that grows behind my house.
Don't you love the descriptive names?
Who comes up with these? Lol!
This large tree is visited by many species of birds
which gives me wonderful opportunities to observe them.
Same tree - different bird.
A Northern Flicker.
This beauty seemed to be hanging out with
a pair of Steller's Jays that arrived at the same time.
Revealing the black necklace over a pretty spotted breast.
This one appears to be a female, as the male
has a bright red 'mustache'.
These woodpeckers feed on ants and beetles, primarily,
and are the only woodpeckers to regularly
feed on the ground.
Their loud 'wacka-wacka' call clearly identifies
their presence.
We have a pair of Ravens that nest nearby.
I've not seen the nest, but they regularly parole
their territory with juveniles in tow in spring
and summer.
They are considered the most intelligent of all birds,
and mate for life.
I have a love/hate relationship with them, as they
are nest robbers, much to the dismay of our
local songbirds.
This is our native Douglas Squirrel.
They love the cone seeds from our Douglas Fir trees
and the wingnuts from the maples.
They frequently search our deck-boards for any
that have fallen and are lodged in the spaces.
They are named after David Douglas (1799-1834),
a prominent Scottish botanist.
You can read his interesting biography by clicking on the link.
just for them.
We love watching them scampering around
and chattering angrily at the dog from high above.
We have a healthy population of Pacific Tree Frogs, here.
They are about 2 inches long with a black stripe from their
snout to their shoulders.
They come in a wide range of colors, from bright green,
brown, tan and even reddish or bronze.
Their long legs and rounded toe pads allow them to easily climb.
Males have a loud "ribbit" call to attract females.
They are a protected species.
They usually set up camp around the outdoor lights
to catch the tasty moths that fly around them.
We have cottontails here occasionally.
The population will expand and contract depending on
the predator population.
We have had a resident Black-tail Doe for the last
3 years. She was born in our fenced in 5 acres
and we watched her grow.
Last year she surprised us with a fawn,
although we shouldn't have been surprised...
She had visitors...
Aren't they beautiful?
She kept her hidden for a few weeks,
but we suspected something when she turned unusually
aggressive towards Kai.
We always keep Kai in the fenced area around the house,
but she was patrolling the fence and rushing the dog!
We gave her lots of space and never let the dog out of the fence.
What? I just want one little bite.
O.K., I'll settle for a treat.
Good boy!
We call her 'Deer Baby' and have watched her grow.
And yes, they have eaten a lot of my flowers and landscaping, so I have been
researching deer-resistant plants.
Over the years we have encouraged native plants that are naturally deer-resistant,
so that we can enjoy these beautiful creatures.
We keep a healthy distance and never interact with them
as we don't want them to get too friendly for their own safety.
These photos were taken early in the morning from the windows.
Deer Baby is almost grown and able to leap the fence,
so, we only see them occasionally now.
But every sighting is a happy occasion.
This little family arrived late last summer to eat the wild plums
growing at the edge of our clearing.
There were actually three little ones with mama,
but one was in the tree!
They made quick work of all the fallen plums
and then disappeared as quickly as they came.
xx
These photos were all taken from windows or my back deck
over the course of the year.
Living here in the foothills of the Cascade mountains
is peaceful, quiet and occasionally exciting when wildlife
comes to visit.
I consider myself very fortunate to experience nature
up close and take my stewardship very seriously.
My motto: Do no harm.
I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my woodland friends.
Thank you for visiting, Dear Friends!
