We did takeout Saturday night, getting Pizza at East 20 and drove a little ways out of town to sit by a creek under the pine trees to eat it. Sorry, there are no pictures of the pizza. You just have to believe me that it was good. We walked down to the river and Sky enjoyed jumping in the water a few times. She has had an injured shoulder for weeks now and rarely gets any play time. It is frustrating for all of us. Yesterday she limped more so I guess it was a bad idea but she was SO happy.
This week the Lyrid meteors are passing by us and I had hoped to make some photos of them. The weather, of course, made a turn for the worse with lots of wind and clouds before I went to bed so I wasn’t optimistic. I did wake up at 3:30 and stepped outside and one big shooting star fell through the atmosphere so I took that as a good sign. The wind was gone and the sky was mostly clear. I stayed out through the blue hour before dawn and enjoyed several meteors but they didn’t cross my camera’s point of view. Still, the stars were beautiful and the colors of the sky were amazing. Light clouds in the east reflected the sunlight even though the sun was far below the horizon.
If I have to be sheltered in place, this isn’t a bad place for it.
Ken went into winter with four active hives and three survived. That was a very high percentage. Normally it’s less than 50% survival rate around here due to mites and disease and many other factors that are often unidentified. Since he expected to lose more, he put in an order for three new colonies. They have to be ordered before a beekeeper can determine how many survived. The new bees arrived over the weekend and moved into their new homes in the Methow. So now there are six! The old hives were already very active and the bees have been out gathering pollen and maybe even some nectar. I used my longest lens to get these photos but still I was too close and a bee got stuck in my hair and stung me on top of my head.
I had an errand that took a while in Twisp the other day so I whiled away my time with a walk in the park. I was socially distanced from people but not with the trees.
We had some nice days last week and it’s hard to just stay home and try to get the exercise we all need. The girls and I took a short drive and followed a dirt road to a small, mostly frozen lake. The temperature may have gone all the way to 70! Luna has increasing trouble with sunny warm days. At 13, it takes a toll. I was counting on a little creek for water for the dogs but Bowen Creek is already dry. Fortunately I brought water for them, just in case. The road was dusty with car and truck and mountain bike tracks. We saw and heard lots of birds and saw a small herd of deer climbing up the nearby mountainside. Almost back to the car, Sky took herself for a swim in a vernal pond while Luna lounged in a diminishing snowbank. Sky has been nursing a shoulder injury for weeks and is not allowed to jump or do any retrieving. It’s finally on the mend, we hope.
Here is the list of birds we saw and heard:
Mallard 6
California Quail 2
Dusky Grouse 1
Sora 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Northern Harrier 1
Bald Eagle 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-naped Sapsucker 1
Northern Flicker 3
American Kestrel 1
Say’s Phoebe 2
Black-billed Magpie 2
Common Raven 3
Black-capped Chickadee 5
Mountain Chickadee 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Mountain Bluebird 20
American Robin 15
Chipping Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 25
Vesper Sparrow 2
Spotted Towhee 3
Red-winged Blackbird 15
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
My Everyday Photos 