Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Winter Birds of the Skagit Valley
On our drive to Bellingham last month, we took the scenic route (it’s all scenic) and stopped by the Skagit Valley, where migrating birds had arrived for the winter.
You may remember the Skagit Valley for its fields of daffodils and tulips in the spring.
It’s also famous for the birds who travel the Pacific Flyway, visiting from the far north.
We’ve gone to see them before, but this time I was looking for a specific location: Fir Island. Not sure exactly where it was, we stopped to ask a local.
‘You’re on it,’ he said, ‘when you crossed the bridge over the Skagit River.’
It didn’t seem like an island to me, but I guess technically it is, bordered by the Skagit River and Skagit Bay.
It was worth asking, because he sent us to a spot we’d never been before, the Fir Island Farm Estuary Restoration Project. “The Fir Island Farm Reserve is a Game Reserve with over 200 acres of restored intertidal estuary and managed agricultural land in southwest Skagit County. The reserve attracts thousands of snow geese, swans, ducks and shorebirds in the fall through early spring. The unit is managed to provide an undisturbed feeding and resting area for wintering waterfowl adjacent to Skagit Bay.”
It was a gray and rainy day, but the birds didn’t mind; they were everywhere.
I posted pictures of the bird below on Facebook and experts helped me identify the long-billed dowitcher, whose breeding grounds are in northern Alaska and Siberia.
While I was watching the birds and ducks around me, the sky high above was suddenly filled with raucous clamoring noise and delightful patterns.
These were likely snow geese, known to be noisy in flight.
On our drive home a few days later, we stopped by Arlington, another farming community to the east of Fir Island, where I saw a large congregation of snowbirds that dwarfed the Canadian geese that were with them. The pictures aren’t great as I had to shoot from a moving vehicle. Still, I was happy to see them.
The Skagit Valley was hit hard with flooding last week, forcing evacuations. I don’t know if the birds were impacted or not, maybe it’s all the same to them. Restrictions have now been lifted as the Skagit River returns to more normal levels, but a flood watch remains. I hope to make it back up to see the snowbirds sometime this winter. We managed to find great congregations and good weather on our last visit, here:
~ Susanne
Stormy Weather, Jury Duty, and a Walk in the Garden
The last two weeks have been intense.
The Pacific Northwest has been ravaged by fierce weather; heavy rains caused severe record-breaking flooding, resulting in road closures, evacuations and homes under water. Many suffered the loss of everything and are thankful to be alive.
A reminder that life is fragile.
The last two weeks were intense for me for another reason: Jury Duty. It had been many years since I last served as a juror, listening intently to witnesses testifying under oath (some truthfully, some not), and scrutinizing exhibits admitted as evidence. It was a civil case, a small business owner was sued for breach of contract, a terribly written, and deficient contract. It had been signed quickly after her husband and business partner was diagnosed with a rare, fatal disease, and intended to bring someone in to take over the business. After her husband died a few months later, many issues arose (not her fault) and she was sued by the other party. It was a sad and complicated affair, and we rendered our verdict in favor of the defendant. It was an interesting experience. I appreciated my fellow jurors and learned a lot. Mostly, I’m glad that justice was served.
My service is complete, so my time is my own again. The winds have died down, the rain has stopped, and the sky is blue, who knows for how long?
I went outside to see if there was any damage from last night’s terrible rain and violent wind. Thankfully, there was none. Instead, I found everything as it was the day before.
My favorite red berries at the front door.
Fallen leaves on soggy ground.
Designer mushrooms scattered about.
And unexpectedly, a rhododendron in bloom.
I’ll take it.
~ Susanne
My Anna’s Beauties in Red and Green
Perhaps fuchsia and green is a more accurate description, but since my feature photo includes red, I’m sticking with the theme!
Since I added a new feeder to the front maple tree, I’ve been enthralled by my visitors all day long, watching them through my office window.
It’s both distracting and wonderful.
Perhaps they’re distracted by me too. I do believe they know I’m here.
These beauties have brought me much joy this week! 🙂
Sharing with Sunday Stills Photo Challenge.
~ Susanne
Saturday Caturday with Benji
“Please, Sue. Can we play?”
“Sorry, Benji. I’m busy.”
“Please, Sue.”
“Okay, Benji. For a few minutes. What do you want to play?”
“The cord, Sue!”
“Okay, Benji. That’s all. I need to work on the computer now.”
“But remember. The white cords are off limits to you.”
“Sorry, Sue.”
Just another Saturday morning with Benji.
~Susanne
Dropping by for Peace
It’s been a very rainy week in the Pacific Northwest, drenching us all and flooding our rivers.
It’s also been a very busy week, but regardless of the environment, inward or outward, I am at Peace – I have God to thank for that.
But that doesn’t mean some places aren’t intrinsically peaceful.
So, for this week’s Sunday Stills photo challenge, I went looking for places that exude #Peace and found them (as usual) on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.
Are you feeling peaceful yet?
I hope so. 🙂
~ Susanne
A Visit to Kualoa Ranch on Oahu
The long and rainy months in the Great Northwest are upon us, time for some armchair travel!
How about a trip to Hawaii?
We visited our two favorite islands back in September – the Big Island of Hawaii and Oahu – I’ve shared from both already.
But I thought Kualoa Ranch, a 4,000-acre private nature reserve and working cattle ranch on Oahu’s windward side, deserved its own post.
The Ranch is set at the foot of the gorgeous Koʻolau Mountains, the dormant fragmented remnant of an ancient volcano.
“What remains of Koʻolau is the western half of the original volcano that was destroyed in prehistoric times when the entire eastern half—including much of the summit caldera—slid cataclysmically into the Pacific Ocean.” Wikipedia
If you do nothing but gawk at the beauty of the Ko’olau Range, you do well. But it’s even better to take one of the tours into the valley, where you’ll get a closer look at the mountains, and no doubt recognize some of the scenery.
“If the views look familiar, it’s because Kualoa has been the site of over 70 Hollywood movies since the 1950’s. Blockbuster films such as Jumanji, Kong Skull Island, Jurassic World, Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom, Jurassic Park, Windtalkers, Pearl Harbor, Godzilla, Tears of the Sun, and 50 First Dates have all been filmed at Kualoa. TV shows like Hawaii Five-O, Magnum P.I. and LOST have also used the amazing backdrops. Kualoa is known as Hollywood’s “Hawaii’s Backlot,” and has been seen by more than a billion people in all the movies filmed at the ranch over the past 60 years!” About Kualoa Ranch
Of all the movies filmed here, Jurassic Park is probably my favorite.
Did you know that one of the most iconic scenes in the movie, wasn’t meant to be filmed on Oahu? Most of the movie was filmed on Kauai, but when Hurricane Iniki hit, they had to relocate and finished up at Kualoa Ranch. (The heavy rain in some of the movie’s sequences was real footage from the hurricane.)
The valley where Dr.Grant and the kids ran and hid behind a giant log is one of the stops on the movie tour.
And also the site of Skull Island.
There’s a lot more to see on this tour, and there are other tours you can take, too. But that will do for now.
Now to get there.
The most direct route to Kualoa Ranch from Honolulu is through the Ko’olau mountain range.
But if you have more time, you can take the coastal route at least one way, around the bottom of the island.
We took that scenic drive another day – Oahu’s Windward Side.
Whichever way you go, I hope you get a chance to visit Kualoa Ranch someday yourself.
~ Susanne
Looking out my Window with Benji
Facebook reminded me that 9 years ago, this was the view from my office window. It was Benji’s first snow.
There’s been no snow yet this winter, but we still enjoy looking out the window.
“Right, Benji?”
“Of course, Sue.”
This morning, I replenished the feeder in front, and the hummingbirds appreciated it. They deplete their sugary drink faster here probably because of the better tree cover.
This was a male Anna’s hummingbird, though I wasn’t sure at first as the flashes of pink were only occasional.
Much has changed in 9 years for Benji, but much is still the same. He may be down a limb, but he still loves looking out the window from his new accommodations. We do what we can.
~ Susanne
Textures in Nature and Art
I love the word ‘textures’ – say it slowly and you can hear its rich sound and even see its meaning in your mind’s eye.
Nature, like life itself, is textured and nuanced. Not only smooth, but sometimes rough, not merely soft but also coarse; sometimes wet and sometimes dry. Thick and thin, lumpy and bumpy, and full of ups and downs. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I was born and raised in Seattle and have seen plenty of gray skies, completely gray in fact like today. Though we don’t top the list of rainiest cities in the United States, we are near the top of the cloudiest. So, I might reasonably wish for more sunshine and blue skies but then I’d miss out on breakthroughs like this,
and buoyant clouds like these.
And what a treat to see skies filled with cirrocumulus clouds!
Perhaps my favorite are lenticular clouds – I brake for them when I can.
They sometimes hover over Mt. Rainier, looking quite like a UFO, and did you know it was here the phrase was coined, though called flying saucers first. I often see Mt. Rainier wearing a cloudy cap, but unfortunately, often while driving on the highway.
I found them here racing toward the mountain, though not there yet.
Trees come in all textures too. I like the big foot on this one.
And the bark on this one, a Redwood.
The bark on the Madrona is special, crispy and peeling to reveal a slick and shiny surface beneath.
Rocks come in all textures from ordinary pebbles to magnificent gems deep in the earth.
Artists understand the importance of textures perhaps more than most, and I’m grateful for their work.
Sharing for this week’s Sunday Stills, #Textures.
~ Susanne
Saying Goodbye to November
Today felt like the first day of winter, with frost on the ground and temperatures in the low thirties.
Even so, we bundled up and took a walk at a nearby park, where crispy, fallen leaves were still everywhere on the ground.
‘Hey dear,’ I said, ‘can we stop for a picture? I want to get our shadows.’
As always, my husband complied, even waving to the camera without my asking.
Getting my last post in before the sun sets on #November Shadows.
~ Susanne
Morning Shadows on Lake Quinault
It was an early winter morning at Lake Quinault on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, and all was tranquil.
Time to go back.
Sharing my photos with Becky’s #November Shadows.
~ Susanne
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