So - What is This???

In yesterday's post I showed this flower that I couldn't identify

And my readers quickly identified it as Goat's Beard

But wait

 When we first moved to Washington in 2001 we saw this lovely plant flowering - and someone told us that it was called Goat's Beard

 I can certainly see the resemblance to a goat's beard 

 With some research I think I've been able to identify it as a plant called Ocean Spray 

 A much prettier name than Goat's Beard - so is this a correct identification?  Is it only called Goat's Beard by residents of Bellingham?

 The blossoms are simply beautiful

It grows in masses alongside the street leading to our house - beautiful for sure - hayfever?  Oh yes!!

Just Some Random Pretty Flowers

It's been a BUSY week - Don was in the hospital since Sunday - mysteriously sick and then our great team of doctors (6 in all) worked their magic and figured out the problem.  While it is a serious problem it is easily fixed over time and he is now home - sitting across the room from me, reading his kindle (as life should be).

In celebration I thought I'd show you some of the pretty flowers that are blooming right now.

 There are thousands of Dogwood trees in Bellingham - some bloomed early and some are just now blooming

 Roses along a fence in a small town named Lyman - not far from here - spectacular!

 Many find the wild Morning Glories to be a pest - unless you can use them decoratively like along this fence, also in Lyman - very clever.

 Poppies are beginning to bloom

 More Dogwood trees

 And more soft, papery petaled Poppies.

 What is this?????  I've seen it growing wild along some roads but this was the first time I saw it in a garden - do you know what it is, besides wonderful?

 And Foxgloves everywhere - in yards and alongside the roads and covering hillsides - and on my deck in pots.

The legend is that the fairies would come out at night and use the flowers for their gloves at the fancy moonlight balls - and the flowers were called "Wee Folk's Gloves" - and soon became shortened to Foxgloves.

Mosaic Monday

A New Bird

Well, new to me for sure.  

 Driving up near Ferndale, WA I spotted a bird in the top of a tree ( almost at the top of the second tree from the left), thinking it was an eagle we pulled into a parking lot at a park for a picture

 It was not an eagle - but an Osprey - we wondered if its nest was nearby but couldn't find a nest 

 Grooming

I have only seen Ospreys from a distance - never close enough for photos.  I'm glad my new camera has such good zoom.  It is a Nikon CoolPix P600.  Love that camera and the ability it gives me to get good shots from far away.

I'd Rather B Birdin'

Whale Watching Tour

Our son and daughter-in-law gave us the gift of a whale watching tour for our 50th anniversary - last September.  Since the weather was not spectacular and the days were getting shorter we decided to wait until June of this year to take the tour - when the weather was better and besides - June is one of the best months for spotting whales in the Salish Sea (the islands and channels from British Columbia down to the bottom of Puget Sound).

 The Salish Sea

Our tour boat - we sat on the back deck (far left in the photo).  Much better view than inside on the the cramped seats

Look at all the windows - the houses facing the marina.

We left at 1:30 out of Anacortes (1 hour drive from Bellingham) - with the recommended snack and water packed in our bag.  All the tours out of British Columbia had been cancelled that day so there were no boats up that way to let the captain of our boat know of any whales that had been sighted - so we headed down toward Puget Sound - 50 mph in the sunshine and fairly smooth seas.  There were 2 foot - then three foot and finally 5 foot swells.  The boat took the seas well - even at 50 mph.

Our route out of Anacortes - the most whales were spotted near the next to the last arrow at the bottom of the map.  The boat captain would shut off the engines and let the boat drift so we could all get lots of photos of the whales.  You can see Bellingham at the top right of the map.

 The people in this sailboat don't even seem to be aware that they are so near a whale.

 We saw other things besides whales - the ship on the left is a freighter - the other is the Washington State Ferry

Another freight barge had a large variety of items - big containers of freight, road graders, semi trucks and even a boat.  It was pulled by a huge tug boat.

 Freight from around the world

 And Coast Guard boats

And the State Ferries - back and forth across the channels  

 Sailboats and whale watching boats

 You could tell which side of the boat the whales were on - all the passengers rushed over to see the whales

 Rocky shores - and a random white boulder - wonder how it got there

 More sailboats and horses on a hillside

 Most of the whales just broke the water - not any jumping or breaching, but did what is called porpoising.  Porpoising is also known as running, which refers to the high speed surface behavior where long, low jumps are alternated with swimming close to the surface.

 The scenery was outstanding - bright water and forests on rocky shores

 And whales!!

 Waves splashing beside the boat

 Two horses on hillside

 The pod of Orcas that we saw was T146.  T is for a transient pod, 146 is the number given to the adult female in the pod - the transient pods eat mammals (seals, sea lions,porpoises and dolphins.  while the resident pods of Orcas eat only fish and squid, and this way they divide up the food available in different locations.

 The only time a whale came up out of the water - this is called sky hopping - they are looking around to see what is going on and then continue traveling.  I was the only one on the boat that got this shot.  Talk about lucky.

It was a fabulous trip - the weather was gorgeous and we saw a lot of whales. Thank you Rusty, Jamie and Donnie - we had a wonderful time!!

Saturday's Critters