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Tag Archives: Okanogan Highlands

Preening her Feathers

I love birding from a boat. Especially a human-powered boat like my kayak. On quiet water, the boat moves silently and smoothly and many birds are not disturbed by its presence. I still have to be quiet and move slowly and when I do it all right, I might get the opportunity to watch and photograph birds up close. Well, up close with a telephoto lens!

This female Hooded Merganser was pretty relaxed and let me watch her as she preened her feathers on a floating log near shore. After a while she decided, enough was enough, and flew away. She may have had a nest to tend somewhere around the lake.

Loons of the Okanogan Highlands

I love to watch and listen to the Common Loons when I camp in the Highlands. For me, they represent a certain wildness that is not often present in my daily life. They are exquisitely beautiful birds with haunting calls. If a Bald Eagle approaches a lake with a pair of nesting loons, the birds will call back and forth to each other, as if keeping track of the arch predator, warning each other of the potential danger. Sometimes, it seems they call for fun or to welcome the morning sun or the end of the day. When other loons arrive on the lake, they call back and forth, perhaps in greeting?

I was lucky to see two loons on nests, one visible from a road and the other from my boat. They are sensitive to disturbance so I kept my distance from them.

Loons spend a lot of time preening to maintain their waterproofing and to line up their feathers. Read about that here. The most recent North Central Washington newsletter has articles about banding Common Loons in Ferry and Okanogan Counties. You can read that here.

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?

Camping in the Cold

The girls and I got away for four nights last weekend to a favorite camping spot in the Okanogan Highlands. The weather continues to be cold for this time of year. One morning, there was thick frost on everything and one evening, in addition to rain, there was a good hail storm. Never a dull moment. We kept warm in the camper and kept moving outside. With the chilly weather, few people were camping so we mostly had the place to ourselves. That was nice.

Even Luna enjoyed the time away from home. She’s always been a good traveler and is eager to explore new places. She had a real spring in her step. Sky was excited to be camped next to a lake and I was excited to get in my boat and to see all the birds. We could see and hear the loons from our campsite. It was wonderful.

Raising a (loon) Family

Baby birds need to eat a lot and eat often. They have a lot of growing up to do in a short time. By fall, these tiny babies need to be able to fly away to the ocean or maybe the Columbia River where they will find water and food and safe havens. Both parents feed the little ones, diving often to search for small tidbits to feed the babies.