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Scenes from the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival

Thursdsay was our first time ever to attend a performance of the annual, week-long festival held high on a hill above our house. The Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival attracts musicians of incredibly high caliber from places near and far. Our friends brought East 20 pizza and some refreshments and we arrived early to picnic on the lawn and visit and enjoy the evening light.

Weather is at long last, simply perfect. Signal Hill Ranch, the festival venue, overlooks the valley with the North Cascades in the distance and it is a lovely setting to celebrate music and musicians and the folks that appreciate them. The old enormous barn has been updated for acoustics and audience comfort. I did not take my camera gear however the owner of the ranch suggested I use his to get a few pictures of the evening. Unfamiliar equipment, location and lighting made it a challenge and a learning experience. I always enjoy photographing music so it was interesting and I’ll give it a try again next year.

Oh, and the music – it was fabulous.

 

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Cedar Waxwings in a Nest

A lady who lives up river a ways from us gave me a call the other day to say there is a nest of Cedar Waxwings at their house and would I like to photograph it. Well, yeah. Just had to find the time this busy week. This morning I got down there around 8:30 and was delighted to see four babies squeezed into the nest and also got to see a parent come to them three different times. The adult never stayed long. These young birds are almost fully feathered and will soon be on their own, trying to figure out where the food comes from. The nest is in an old apple tree so maybe they will return in the fall when the fruit is ripe.

 

 

 

Many thanks to Nancy for sharing!

Salsify Seeds

Ok, so salsify is a weed and there sure is a lot of it this year. All those not so pretty yellow flowers are turning into fluffy dandelion-like seeds, ready to be wafted away by the slightest breeze. There is a certain pleasure in observing their geometric elegance before they disperse.

 

 

Loons and and a few other birds of Lost Lake

Common Loons nest at Lost Lake. There are only a few places around Washington where they nest so it’s a special place for folks who love the charismatic birds. This season, the nesting pair has lost both of its chicks to marauding Bald Eagles. It is quite a dilemma for bird lovers. We did see a chick on Thursday evening when we arrived but the eagle was watching at the same time. We never saw the baby again so it must have been taken by the eagle shortly after we saw it.

 

 

 

 

 

I was lucky enough to be invited to search for Great Gray Owls near a known nesting site. Our small group walked along a county road and first spotted the young fledglings near the end of dusk and then the adults hunting from fence posts after dark!

 

Red-winged Blackbirds rule the marsh with their raucous calls.

 

Juvenile swallows waiting for a meal or a lesson in catching their own.

 

Young Spotted Sandpipers

 

The adult Spotted Sandpiper watching its babies.

 

 

 

 

Fun Times at Lost Lake

It was Ken’s birthday while we were at Lost Lake and we had a low key celebration over breakfast on Friday. The big party is this Saturday so ya’ll be sure and show up!

There was a general theme of fishing throughout the weekend. Riley is his middle name.

Sometimes I think it’s more about fiddling with gear than actual fishing.

Two very nice eastern brook trout.

And another one.

Because Lost Lake is home to Common Loons, lead fishing tackle is banned. Ken used all non-toxic tackle to catch these fish.

Playing guitar and singing under the tamarack trees.

He cooked dinner in the campfire each night, including those three mighty brook trout!