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  

Contest Winners

 The contest window has closed, and we have winners!

First Place

Andria, from Colorado, came in first place identifying all three creatures.  

#1  Mink, #2 Coyote, and #3 Ruffed Grouse

Second Place

Nick, from California, was a close second, identifying the coyote, and grouse.

I was very impressed by Andria nailing the mink ID.  It could have been mistaken for a weasel or an otter.

A big shaka to all who participated.  You are both winners!

CONTEST!

 

Name these 3 and win big!

1.

2.

3.

Submit your 3 guesses to my email.  The first person who guesses all 3 correctly will win bragging rights and recognition on this blog (first names only).  Contest window ends on April 12.  Good luck!

Little Jewels

 Rufous Hummingbirds have returned from Mexico, with some headed for Alaska.  I took pictures of these yesterday at our feeder.

Spring Has Sprung

 We have a Hooded Merganser again laying an egg a day since Friday 13th.  We call her Lucky.  This morning I could hear a male doing its display call outside the box while Lucky was in the box.  Fortunately, she picked the box with our camera mounted in it.

Marty and I spent most of last Tuesday putting out duck boxes.  It was quite a slog wading through water and mud holes.  We have 10 boxes altogether.  Hopefully the Wood Ducks appreciate our efforts!

Yesterday, Gail and I installed a duck box at a pond about 3 miles up the mountain from us.  You can see the box on the right.  

This morning we took advantage of the minus tide and took Daisy to Ocean Beach.

Looking down the coast towards Haceta Lighthouse.  There was a sea lion on the beach at one point.  Luckily I was able to leash up Daisy before she saw it.  She would have charged it if she could!



This afternoon I saw several steelhead trout spawning in the river on our property.  Below is a link to video I took of a pair in action.  Such beautiful strong fish!

https://youtu.be/tskFe75BLoY

Snow

Wednesday, February 18, we were greeted by falling snow.  It was about 2-3" deep by later in the morning.  We are having a cold snap this week after a rather warm, dry winter.  

Click the link below to snow falling towards the river.

https://youtube.com/shorts/_C6j1zV_al0

This morning, Thursday,  below the house.  It snowed again last night, about an inch.

I realize this is a nothing burger to most of the country, but living most of my life near coastal California, it still gets me excited.

January Pictures

 The first week of this month was rainy and relatively warm for January.  Since then, it has been dry, clear, and cold.  The morning lows have been below freezing with the past two mornings being 22 degrees.  We still have been doing walks and hikes almost daily.  Below are some pictures of from the past couple weeks.

The morning view from the hot tub.

The coast temperatures have been much milder than at our home 8 miles inland.

Cormorants and a gull at Seal Rock.

A beach scene at Seal Rock.

There have been a lot of gulls resting at the bay in Yachats.  Notice how far up the rocks driftwood logs have been hurled by tides and surf.

Yesterday, we drove up to Lincoln City and hiked the trail up to God's Thumb.  The thumb is that steep mound of rock on the left that resembles the thumb of God.  There is a group of people clustered on the top, 400 feet above the water.

A closer view of the folks on top.  It was looking a little crowded for our taste, so we sat on the grassy knoll above the thumb.

Looking up the coast from our perch.

Looking a mile or two northward across the Salmon River we could see a herd of elk lounging and grazing in the yards of these homes.

Meanwhile, back home, we noticed two dead salmon on the bank of the other side of the river, so I aimed a trail camera at it to see what might come along and eat it.   A nutria came plodding by, but being a vegetarian, it showed no interest.

A family of otters also came by, but they weren't interested either.  I think the salmon were frozen solid.  Eventually, a raccoon started chipping way at it, and now the remains are mostly gone.

A bobcat made 3 appearances, but I don't know if it ate any of the salmon.

And last but not least, a couple cute pictures of Gail and Daisy.