Woodpecker Alert!

Sitting at my desk the other day I looked up - and here was this find fellow.  Don was in the living room so he ran for my camera (it is usually in my pocket, but not this time) and I got about 25 shots before he flew off.  He was about 15 feet from where I was sitting.  He was eating from the suet feeder that is attached to the end of the grandsons' swingset.  I just couldn't believe my eyes.  I've seen about four of these Pileated Woodpeckers in my life - and never this close.

 

It was an amazing experience - I don't think I took a breathe all the time I was taking the pictures.

Linking to Madge at Weekly Top Shot.

Our deck last summer - waiting for summer this year!

 

 Our deck last summer - looking forward to many warm days this summer!  Our son-in-law Jay built this deck for us - with help from his son Jahn-Zyel and the rest of the family.  Aren't families grand!!!??!!!

 

The white petunias were glorious last summer - this year I have planted trailing nasturtiums in the planter boxes on the deck railing.

Amazing!

On the way home last night we stopped by the ponds near our house to see what was going on with the ducks and Canada Geese. We were surprised to see the muted colors on this goose, we hadn't seen her before. She is a leucistic goose (there's a good word to look up in your dictionaries).

She was very patient and let me get lots of photos . . .

Though uncommon, these are surprisingly, not rare . . .

I like the contrast between her and the regular Canada Goose.

Such striking feather colors . . .

The purple reflection in the water is from a house across the pond . . .

A hawk was flying over and she was looking to see if it was a danger to her . . .

No danger - but her friends, the ducks, certainly dove for cover . . .

The blue bill and feet were astounding!

Have you ever seen one of these - or another unusual goose?

Mallards - this one is for you, Bert!

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard (they pronounce it mu LARD) live in our neighborhood during nesting season. They are seen walking up and down the street - flying overhead - and mucking about in the muddy sides of the street. Today it was raining as we came through and there they were - happy as ducks in a puddle.

My friend Bert mentioned that she loves the color on the wings of Mrs. Mallard (mu Lard, if you please), so I tried to capture the blue.

If you click to enlarge the photo you can see the raindrops on Mr. Mallard's back.

And Mr. Mallard's pretty curl on his duck tail . . .

This is another shot of Mrs. Mallard on a sunny day in our yard - they often come for tea time and enjoy the seeds we put out for tea.


Mr. Mallard also has a pretty blue stripe on his wing - not one to be outdone by Mrs. Mallard.

Looks like Mr. Mallard has taken up ballet - what lovely wings!

Snow Geese - in action

One of the most spectacular things you can ever hope to see - and hear - is hundreds and hundreds of Snow Geese taking off. Sometimes something will frighten them and they will take off, and sometimes for no reason apparent to us, up they will go, circle around and land again. There aren't words to describe it - overwhelming - magnificent - spiritual communing - those are just a few, and seem so inadequate.

Click to enlarge the photos - makes them even better!!

Snow Geese

Every winter there are thousands of Snow Geese that over-winter in the Skagit Valley, about 20 miles south of here. We have several favorite spots where we often find them, but this day we had decided to head to La Conner to see what was on the other side of the big bridge over the bay. On the way we spotted masses of white and turned down a long farm driveway (there are several farms there so we weren't on private property, just on a long gravel road to the farms. And there they were - two huge flocks - one on each side of the road.

Snow Geese everywhere . . .

The brown tint on their faces is from minerals in the soil, it colors those feathers a brownish color - it isn't a stain, but a permanent color given to the feathers from the minerals.

The feathers on the young geese are amazing!

The sound by the flocks is sometimes almost deafening and when they fly up it seems every Snow Goose is honking - perhaps it is their guidance system.


We drove slowly down the gravel road and at one point, part of the flock was crossing the road.

They didn't seem to mind us one bit . . .

And slowly they got to the other side - plenty of time for more photos . . .

Time for some sleep - come back tomorrow for lots of action shots - here is a little sample.

Good Bye!