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Another Week in the Mountains

Willow and I spent five days at Harts Pass recently. We had some weather, rain for part of three days, some frosty mornings, fog and lots of sunshine and blue skies. Almost had it all. Lots of people to talk to but we also had some time to get out for walks. Not enough for either of us but sometimes that’s how it goes. Sky stayed home with Ken and had a relaxing time.

Fall colors were just beginning with the huckleberry bushes changed to brilliant red. The berries were still yummy and numerous. I ended most of my walks with stained fingers. Willow helped herself to a few too. The Campanula (bluebells) were still blooming, here and there, and pearly everlasating was living up to its name. The cotton grass clung to its seedheads. The one remaining (not a vernal as I thought earlier in the year) pond still had some tadpoles and tiny frogs too. Some tadpoles had grown legs. I don’t know what kind of frog or toad these might be. Seems like kind of late in the year to be turning into frogs.

Surprise Visitors

I volunteer at a MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) station where we capture and band birds, collect data and let them go and hope to see them in future years. There is one Swainson’s Thrush that we have seen six years in a row! That means he has made five round trips to Central America and back! How cool is that? Anyway, last week was our last banding session for the summer and we had surprise visitors to one of the ponds on the property – three river otters! It looked like maybe a mama and two youngsters. They watched us as we walked by over and over again and they fished for the big-lipped suckers that live in the pond and they napped on a log. At one point they crossed over our trail and into the adjacent pond on a swim-about before returning to their log. After that, we had to be careful to avoid stepping in otter poop! We all had chances to photograph them with our cell phones and cameras and the otters did not seem bothered by our presence. What a day!

Sights from the Mountains

A few more sights and fun stuff. A bird, a bug, ungulates, dogs and interesting scenes.

Wildflower Views

I really do need to get a macro lens.

More Marsh Birds

As I watched and photographed the Virginia Rail family (see last post), there were other birds singing and foraging in the marsh. I heard the familiar song of a Willow Flycatcher and was delighted to see it out in the open where I could easily photograph the tiny Empidonax flycatcher. If it had not been singing, I would have struggled with the ID. Song Sparrows were hopping along on the algae mats, foraging for what, I don’t know. There were three or four of them and some were probably young of the year. A Spotted Sandpiper joined the group, also foraging on the algae mats. And last, but not least, a Common (not so common in my mind) Yellowthroat sang from a prominent perch, giving me great views. Most of these images are heavily cropped as the birds are small and not that close.