Fauna and other natural things

[paultuttle]

This morning, a beautiful bird of prey floated overhead and--after a few flaps of its long wings--gracefully landed on a branch about three stories up in a tree as I walked around the neighborhood. Its belly and ventral feathers were a very pale rose color, but I'm not sure whether that was a reflection of the absolutely gorgeous sunrise or reality. 

[apl68]

I've heard something scampering overhead now and then in the past week or so.  Did I have squirrels in the attic?  How could they possibly be getting in there?  I finally realized that I was probably just hearing them racing along on top of the eaves, not inside them.

[apl68]

Been walking at the city park with the snow on the ground.


Tracks of a raccoon
Coming and going for miles
In the fading snow


That "for miles" is not an exaggeration.  The walking trail is close to three miles long, and I saw the tracks almost everywhere on it.  I hadn't seen any raccoon tracks on previous mornings.  They must have been very active last night.

[ab_grp]

My poor husband got chased by an aggressive skunk this morning! It was raining out, and he thought it was a cat, but he realized his error in time to turn around and flee.  What the heck!

[apl68]

Glad he was able to escape!

Several years ago one of our staff members had a siege of skunks getting into her house.  I have friends who know her and live down the road from her, and they say that they've never seen skunks at their place--they all seem to congregate in her neck of the woods instead.

[ab_grp]

Thanks, apl68! It kind of cracks me up to picture this big guy running away from a galloping skunk, but obviously that skunk had some agenda (likely nefarious).  I definitely wouldn't want even one in my house, let alone a siege! We had one on our patio a couple years ago that also was too cozy for comfort.  We were on high alert for a while, but our guard has dropped. 

[waterboy]

My Instagram feed has suddenly been filled with some wonderful reels of extremely clear trail cam videos of wildlife. Anyone have any idea what the cameras are? Mine at home is ok, but not crystal clear like I'm seeing.

[Langue_doc]

My poor husband got chased by an aggressive skunk this morning! It was raining out, and he thought it was a cat, but he realized his error in time to turn around and flee.  What the heck!

Skunks aren't usually aggressive so this one might have been sick (rabies?) or felt threatened. Glad husband didn't have a close encounter with the skunk!

[ab_grp]

My poor husband got chased by an aggressive skunk this morning! It was raining out, and he thought it was a cat, but he realized his error in time to turn around and flee.  What the heck!

Skunks aren't usually aggressive so this one might have been sick (rabies?) or felt threatened. Glad husband didn't have a close encounter with the skunk!

Thanks, Langue_doc! I don't know what was going on.  I think it was a fair distance away, so I'm not sure why it would feel threatened.  Maybe it was just ornery or mad about the rain.  Maybe it thought he was its friend.  Better not to find out in either case! He tried to warn another pedestrian, and she looked at him like he was crazy.  I wonder if she or anyone else ended up having a run-in.

[apl68]

A foggy morning
The moon a full silver disc
With a bright halo

[Parasaurolophus]

Saw orcas from the very this noon. They don't normally come so close to the ferry lanes.

[apl68]

The pond at the city park is still a bit high from the recent rains.


On the spillway bridge
Waterfall on the right ear
Trickling on the left

[waterboy]

Saw 4 golden eagles this weekend as they migrated through.

[apl68]

Last night we got storms and heavy rain across our already damp region.  This morning we had huge mushrooms growing in the library's yard.  I grubbed them up and got rid of them.  For all I know they might have been edible, but not being a mushroom fan I didn't think they looked too delectable.

We've also been notified that there's "something tall and green" growing in the gutters on the north end of our building.  Wonder if we could try to pass that off as a "green roof"....

[Langue_doc]

On the bird walk where we saw ospreys aplenty, we also saw several dolphins merrily splashing in the ocean, with one of them quite close to the shore.