Skip navigation

Author Archives: Teri J Pieper

Feeding the Birds

I did not mean to feed the birds. Sometimes Luna doesn’t feel well and she was getting white rice mixed into her regular kibble and still she did not eat her breakfast. So I picked it up to keep Sky from eating it. Later we walked down to the lake and when we returned, the local flock of Canada Jays was having a heyday with it. These jays make their way through the campground each morning looking for careless campers who leave their food out. Normally, I keep a clean campsite so I was a bit horrified at myself but then watching the jays was so much fun and they were really loving the unexpected treats!

Canada Jays used to be known as Gray Jays and before that, they were Canada Jays. I don’t know why ornithologists made those decisions. They are commonly known as camp robbers or whiskey jacks. They are very gregarious and will even take food from a person’s hand. I wonder what they eat in the winter when people aren’t around?

Fall Birds

I like to watch and photograph birds from my kayak. During the breeding season, birds seem more at ease with people-powered boats. But in the fall, the birds are migrants, visiting unfamiliar lakes and terrain, and they are more wary. Each morning of my recent camping trip, there were different birds on the lake. Birds often migrate in the dark so yesterday’s birds moved on and new ones arrived in the wee morning hours to rest for the next leg of their migration. And there were far fewer than in the summer. The loons were gone, having moved on for the winter. They can often be seen on the big river (Columbia) this time of year.

The pair of Ruddy Ducks tried to fool me. I had seen and identified them from shore by their small bodies and stiff, upright tail but when they initially went by my boat, they had their tails tucked in the water and I was puzzled! Then, in unison, they flicked their tails up as if to point out my ignorance. Very cute.

Fall Camping

The girls and I had one more camping trip in early October. Due to unseasonably warm weather, fall colors were few and far between. The light was amazing though. Every morning, I took my coffee to the beach and watched the sunlight spread across the mountain and the tall trees. Sky and Luna both posed for photos. Luna managed to go for walks the first four days but by day five, she was tuckered out and did not really want to do much. I think she was relieved when we left the next day. However, she still wants to go camping. She loves the smells and the lake and just being out and about. The best thing about that trip was that we mostly had the campground to ourselves. Hardly anyone else was camping. The worst thing about it was that somewhere a fence or gate had failed and six cows freely roamed about. They would parade through at least once a day. Sky got real good at chasing cows and Luna backed her up with barking.

One More Fall Hike

This is my favorite trail, I’m pretty sure. I can return to it multiple times during a hiking season. It does have the very worst road though. It’s a place where the sub alpine larches are enchanting in their early summer greens and amazing when they turn golden in the fall. Pikas are frequently heard and sometimes seen while crossing the talus slopes. Earlier in the year marmots let loose with piercing calls to frighten even the bravest dogs and people too. Now they are underground. The pikas continue to harvest greens to dry in their ‘hay’ piles and then store under the rocks for the long cold winter soon to come.

At the trailhead, the wildfire smoke was thick – we could taste it as well as smell it. But we’d driven all the way so we headed out and gradually, there was less of it but it was always present. While I am not quite ready for winter to set in, it’s the only thing that will quell the wildfires burning in the mountains throughout the northwest.

Color of Fall

What a strange fall it’s been. Unseasonably warm and very smoky from wildfires in the mountains. I have not been hiking as much as I’d like to. A friend was driving across the North Cascades so we met at one of the busy trailheads up there to soak in a few fall colors.