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Tag Archives: Methow photography

Chorus Frog

We often find these tiny chorus or tree frogs on our deck, in the potted plants, even in the bbq – we need to open the grill before lighting it – and also in the garage. I don’t know why they think that these places are good frog habitat but here they are. There is no open water for them and we never hear a ‘chorus’ of them, just lone frogs here and there. Once, in the fall, when I was bringing plants back in the house before cold weather set in, a frog came in and its calls of protest were so loud, we were encouraged to find the animal and return it outside, to its ‘natural’ habitat!

 

 

 

 

Here is some information about these wide-spread frogs.

Out of the Ashes

Back in April, there was a fire on our hillside – you can see the images from that day here. Our neighbor’s place suffered a lot of damage and he asked me to document the recovery over the course of the growing seasons with my camera. He set up a photo point for me to visit on a regular basis and after 2 1/2 months, it’s easy to see that recovery is well on its way. So far, there has not been a big influx of weeds in most places. In fact, the native wildflowers are doing well – even more abundant than in the areas that were not burned! The bitterbrush, a favorite food for the local mule deer, does not seem to be sprouting back. This will be a major change in the habitat. Grasses and forbs are doing well.

 

April 20, three days following the fire. The yellow rebar marks the photo point.

 

May 1. The burned pine tree on the right and bent over to the left burned bitterbrush show up in all the images in this series.

 

May 13

 

May 22

 

May 30

 

June 14

 

June 28

 

Balsamroot bloomed very well in the burned area.

 

Lupine is blooming more abundantly and for a longer season in the burned area compared to the non-burned area.

 

Douglas sunflowers are also more abundant.

 

Lush growth

 

The day of the fire.

 

 

Six Years Later

In 2006, the Tripod wildfire raged through Okanogan County. Between late July and snowfall, it burned more than 175,000 acres of forest lands. Unlike the fires currently burning in Colorado and Montana, it did not burn any homes. Six years later, regeneration is producing a new kind of forest with wildlife friendly snags, wildflowers and new growth of willows and aspens. I spent part of Monday afternoon walking through a tiny bit of the old burn listening to birds and small mammals and admiring the flowers.

 

Burnt snags reflected in a small pond

 

 

Roger Lake – some trees survived in the boggy edges of this lake and it continues to be a great place for birds and other wildlife

 

 

Snags criss cross on the trail

 

Bog orchid grows in a wet spot

 

lupine

 

Spent flowers remind me of the fire

 

Lupine bud

 

Lupine from above

 

Scarlet gilia

 

Wild rose

 

Penstemon

 

Here is an article about the fire. And here is an article about a study on the effects of the fire.

 

 

A Good Walk This Morning

Not much time for a long walk with the dogs today so we made the most of it with sightings of a Great Horned Owl, Gray Catbird, American Kestral and two Rubber Boas.

This one is about eighteen inches long.

image

Early Morning Birdwalk

I was up early and out on the wet hillside this morning, hoping to hear birds and try to figure out which ones were singing. It was a glorious morning after all the rain we’ve had this week. Rubber boots were the fashion statement of the morning. I meant to take the big camera but, somehow managed to leave it behind so once again, Instagram to the rescue. Really, I mean to get serious about photography again. Soon. Really.

 

That’s our nicest pine tree

 

The ground is starting to heal nicely after the April 17th brush fire

 

Sunrise!

 

I think these are Douglas sunflowers

 

I don’t think the pines down in the draw are going to survive

 

Here’s something new

 

Lots of chokecherry blossoms this year

 

Target practice?

 And birds. Here is the list of birds I was able to identify by sight or sound:

California Quail

Dusky Grouse

Red-tailed Hawk

Mourning Dove

Rufous Hummingbird

Calliope Hummingbird

Northern Flicker

Western Wood-Pewee

Willow Flycatcher

Say’s Phoebe

Warbling Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Common Raven

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

House Wren

Western Bluebird

Mountain Bluebird

American Robin

Gray Catbird

Orange-crowned Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Spotted Towhee

Western Tanager

Black-headed Grosbeak

Brewer’s Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Cassin’s Finch

Pine Siskin