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.
This bear cooled off in the water just like Daisy does!
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.
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
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.
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.
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
The contest window has closed, and we have winners!
First Place
