Owl Hunts the Yard

 Yesterday, around 8:00 AM, we saw a large owl perched on our bird feeder pole.  I hustled to get my camera.  When I returned, it had dropped to the ground and was hunched over something.  It was a Barred Owl, a large owl that has made its way west from eastern North America.  Barred Owls have aggressively forced out the Northern Spotted Owl, a federally listed threatened species.  

On the ground and probably swallowing one of our many rodents.  Yeah!  The low light pushed the limits of my long lens.

Moments later, it flew across the river and landed about 20 feet up on a Douglas Fir branch.

Although we often hear Barred Owls making their "Who cooks for you" call, we seldom see them.

I moved to a different angle to show why we seldom see them.

The owl flew to the stair railing on our cabana, then up to a low branch.  We need more owls here as we have been overrun by chipmunks, mice, rats, and squirrels this year, exacerbated by feeding the birds this spring.  I stopped feeding the birds about a month ago.  Owls, do your work!

Bear and Vulture

 I have a trail cam below our big Sitka Spruce aimed at the rock shelf that becomes dry in summer allowing animals to cross the river easily.

A Turkey Vulture lands for a splash and a drink.

A bear crosses in nimble fashion.  This is one of Daisy's favorite spots to wade around in and cool off.

Recent Trail Cam Captures

 We left a trail camera on a dirt road about 7 miles into the forest from our house.  We didn't get any animals this time other than bears, and a couple jeeps.  Here is a momma bear with cubs.

This bear cooled off in the water just like Daisy does!

Meanwhile, back at our place, a Great Blue Heron lands with a fish.  It adeptly gets the slippery little thing into its mouth without losing it.

This is a cell phone picture at South Beaver Creek I took when retrieving duck boxes.  An elk apparently knocked off the top scratching an itch on its head.  About 6 Tree Swallow nestlings who are about to fledge are staring into the sky as a parent flies overhead.

Square Dancing at Nick and Lauren's Wedding

 Nick and Lauren were married Sunday, May 31st.  The festivities included square dancing.  I am normally dance phobic, but got in the action from the start up until this last square dance.  It was a hoot!  I think you will have to copy and paste the link below into your browser to make it work.

                                                 https://youtu.be/uV5ODYOohvk

Lucky and Her Ducklings Appear

 

On the 23rd, we saw Lucky and her ducklings in our swimming hole.  When I checked the camera pointed at the river, it was fun to see that they had swum by minutes earlier.  I counted 9 ducklings out of the original 11.  It looks like they are growing fast.  Notice the one duckling that pops up from a dive.  Hooded Mergansers eat mostly fish, insect larvae on submerged rocks, and crayfish.

Common Mergansers

 I think Common Mergansers are uncommonly striking.  These were cruising by below the house, caught on my trail cam.  

A pair of Common Mergansers with the male still in breeding plummage.

I love how one of the ducklings gets to ride on mom's back.

Duck Box Success!

 I made a rather crude 7 minute video of "Lucky's" nesting and fledging of her ducklings.  Warning, the exit of the ducklings from the box gets dramatic.  The link is below.  For some reason you have to highlight the link and right click open this link to get it to open up.

                                                  https://youtu.be/gdkXbBp8EDg