Skip navigation

Category Archives: wildlife

Scenes from the Salish Sea

Willow and I spent eighteen days in western Washington last month. Our trip coincided with the notorious weather system sometimes called the pineapple express – lots of rainy days. While the weather was disappointing, we still managed to get in lots of walks and I got to do some wildlife photography, mostly birds. I did make a special trip to see foxes and it was a big disappointment. I only found one fox and it was so habituated to people that it sat in the middle of a county road and begged for food. It was a beautiful animal. When I was in Churchill, they called this a cross fox but here, I learned that it is a color variation of a red fox. Foxes were introduced to this island to reduce the rabbit population. The rabbits are also an introduced species.

Columbian Ground Squirrels

This group of Columbian ground squirrels seemed to be posing for family photos. First there was one, then there were three and then there were four, although the fourth one was a little camera shy. And then there was one.

I don’t know what they were watching. Maybe my car, parked to the left and behind? The dogs were in it. And then to the right. Did they sense something I did not? They were pretty cute.

The Cutest

I didn’t get to see too much wildlife in the California desert but there was this adorable tiny ground squirrel (or chipmunk) that entertained me at my campsite for part of an afternoon. They would sit on their rock and then make a mad dash through some vegetation and grab something out of the gravel and race back to the rock and eat it like an ear of corn! I could not tell what was being eaten but it must have been pretty good. I confess, I am easily entertained and I must have spent an hour watching and photographing. I tried to figure out the species but had no luck. Maybe someone else knows?

Seen While Birding

We went on an outing to see if we could find some wintering birds the other day. They are few and far between here at home except at the feeders. Imagine our surprise when we found four bighorn sheep right alongside the road. There was a ram, two ewes and a youngster. At first we thought they had pawed into the snow to find food but as we watched, we realized that they were licking dirt. I wonder if it’s a natural salt lick or if it has some other sort of mineral they need? Regardless, they were intent on what they were doing and did not leave as we watched and photographed. At one point, the big ram moved away from his dirt hole and the youngster started in on it. Shortly, the male came along and butted the little one on the butt, telling them to get out of his hole.

Ground Squirrels

The ground squirrels were particularly active and cute at the campground. Sky was fascinated by them. She’d watch and then they’d slip into their burrows and then she’d walk over and sniff and look around as if to say, ‘where’d they go?’ And the little mammals seemed to know that Sky would not pursue them. They tolerated her watching them. They let each other know when we were approaching with little warning whistles so the others would be alert.

There are several species of ground squirrels in Washington and I don’t them well enough to make an ID. Maybe someone else does?