Flowering Trees

 A driveway with beautifully trimmed flowering trees 

 Mixed in with blooming Forsythia 

 Carefully planted all down the long driveway

 This is in another location and not pruned - showing how the tree looks in a more natural state - both are beautiful

Wouldn't you like to have a row of pretty flowering trees?

Outdoor Wednesday.

Whatcom Falls

Whatcom Falls Park is in the middle of our city, Bellingham, Washington -  just a few blocks from our home.  This winter we have had heavy rains, setting a record for the wettest February and March in history.  So a trip to the falls was in order

Spring 2017

Let's compare the falls to the summer 2015 - much drier year

Daffodils blooming at the entrance welcome us on this sunny day.

This the widest we've ever seen the falls.

Crashing down into the pond at the bottom, the water is flowing so fast that the pond is completely obscured.

Summer 2015 - rocks and pond at the bottom of the falls are in full view - barely any splashing of the falls into this area.  Notice the rocks to the left top of the falls - people often walk out there when the falls are at this flow.

Mosaic from 2015

Back to 2017.
Now look at the rocks to the top left side of the falls, no walking out there today.

March 2017

The falls are on Whatcom Creek which flows from Lake Whatcom, several miles to Bellingham Bay, often underground.

 A view of the stone bridge crossing the falls - where I stand to take the photos.  It was built in 1939 by President Roosevelt's New Deal WPA (Works Progress Administration) which paid workers to move the Chuckanut sandstone arches from a downtown burned-out building to the park. 

There are picnic areas, a fish hatchery, hiking trails and pond that is a small fish nursery.  The hiking paths meander along the pond on the way to the falls. 

Mosaic Monday 

Red Barns

Today we are looking at more red barns

Well kept and a beautiful tree nearby

One of my favorite farms - we see it across the green fields on our way home after looking for Trumpeter Swans and Snow  Geese - so there are lots of photos of this one.  The pictures of this farm are always taken at 60 mph, as we zoom up the freeway towards home.  No stopping for photos on the freeway.

Another view - with a seasonal pond in the hay fields after days of heavy rain.

I didn't see any horses nearby

Growing older - lots of blackberry bushes encroaching

Trumpeter Swans and Mallard Ducks in front of a large and a small red barn.

I suspect they have barn owls

This one is just to pretty to not see it one more time.

The Barn Collective

Ducks

What a surprise to come upon some ducks in a small pond on a farm

 Northern Shovelers were swimming about and feasting in the pond.

 And doing water ballet for us

 They were on a small pond on this well kept farm near Lynden, WA

Saturday's Critters
Camera Critters 
I'd Rather B Birdin' 
Wild Bird Wednesday

Samish Island

A drive down to Samish Island - this is the area where we saw 35 Great Blue Herons one night in the grassy wetlands. We thought we might see them again - but there were none - so on we went to Samish Island - it is connected by a dike, built in 1930, to the mainland and is now a peninsula, rather than an island.  There are beautiful homes and vacation rentals and most of the houses sit high on a bluff overlooking the bay.  Looking down we discovered where the herons had gone.

They were fishing in the shallow waters of the bay

The slightly sloping beach is perfect for the long legged herons

A Bald Eagle flew over several times and in this far off shot you can see the fish dangling from its claws as the eagle rises out of the water.

The views to the southwest, towards Anacortes, WA are spectacular

This is one of our favorite drives - where do you go for your favorite?