I’ve had the hardest time finding pikas this year! I finally found these two last week and they were very camera shy.
Author Archives: Teri J Pieper
Rest in Peace Old Friend
August 17, 2013 – September 30, 2025
Almost exactly twelve years ago, Ken woke up one morning and said, “Did you see what was in the paper last night? Labrador puppies in Riverside!” I knew we were in for a long day. After Sam, our original lab, had passed in June, we had agreed to get another labrador retriever. And here was the opportunity. If you’ve ever gone to see puppies, you know it’s nearly impossible to resist them and a couple weeks later, we brought home little Sky. Night Sky Star Shine. She was a dog who lived to please us. She was powerful and worked as hard as she could at whatever she knew to be the task. She worked through pain and rarely let us know how much it hurt. If she’d had better trainers, she would have ribbons for everything. She was the last of the original Good Girls’ Club. She was an excellent retriever, an entertaining and sometimes good agility dog and a great companion and adventure and travel partner. And she was the best dog at the stick game. Even in her last couple painful weeks, she went out of the way to show the others how it was done. She was a good dog.
I miss her so much.
These loons had a hard time getting started this year when their first nest failed. They tried again so here they are in August raising their youngsters. It will be a while before they can fly. I imagine, if they survive and their parents are patient enough to stick around, it will be mid to late September before they can migrate. There are three other lakes in the area with loons and this is the only one where the young loons have survived. Bald Eagle are tough on loons.
Both parents look like they’ve been through the ringer this year. One has an old wound on the forehead. It looks like it’s healed but the feathers haven’t grown back. The other has fishing line coming out of its mouth and perhaps around its neck. Hopefully there isn’t a lead sinker still attached. Last year’s female on this lake died from lead poisoning.
And there is a third loon that came to ‘visit’ each morning. While it is in breeding (alternate) plumage, it appears to be somewhat smaller than the other two.
I photographed these birds from my kayak at a safe distance with a 600 mm lens.
From my recent camping trip in the Okanogan Highlands. Merlin, Red-tailed Hawks, Bald Eagle. The eagle was hoping to catch a young loon or duck. The Merlin is a youngster, constantly screaming for help from its parent. I think the Red-tailed Hawks were a family group.
Ducks and coots, mostly youngsters.
My Everyday Photos 