Mary and I saw this old firetruck when we were out birding. Never did see who drove it there. It had at least one really bad tire and no license plates. And genuine packrat poop on the seat too.
Author Archives: Teri J Pieper
Dogs don’t care about the weather, too much.
Sometimes it seems like it’s always cold, overcast, rainy and windy but last week there was a little break.
Last weekend we went to a new place in a light rain. It burned some years ago and the trail has not been maintained this year so we had many logs to clamber over or get around. At 5500′, we found the small lake still partially frozen. A Spotted Sandpiper did its characteristic bobbing on the ice. We had the place to ourselves til we turned to leave and then we encountered three different parties. Mostly it was quiet in the burned forest.
I love to watch and listen to the Common Loons when I camp in the Highlands. For me, they represent a certain wildness that is not often present in my daily life. They are exquisitely beautiful birds with haunting calls. If a Bald Eagle approaches a lake with a pair of nesting loons, the birds will call back and forth to each other, as if keeping track of the arch predator, warning each other of the potential danger. Sometimes, it seems they call for fun or to welcome the morning sun or the end of the day. When other loons arrive on the lake, they call back and forth, perhaps in greeting?
I was lucky to see two loons on nests, one visible from a road and the other from my boat. They are sensitive to disturbance so I kept my distance from them.
Loons spend a lot of time preening to maintain their waterproofing and to line up their feathers. Read about that here. The most recent North Central Washington newsletter has articles about banding Common Loons in Ferry and Okanogan Counties. You can read that here.
My Everyday Photos 