Sunday Brunch and More

 Tree Swallows

This morning, the Tree Swallows made a big appearance and were getting frisky.  They were zooming around the yard and trying out nest boxes.

"April" Update

The best we can tell,  April has been entering her duck box every other day and spending roughly 2-3 hours sitting on her eggs and laying a new one.  I believe she has at least 5-6 eggs so far, from what I see peeking out from under her.  It's hard to tell because she covers and uncovers them with wood shavings while she is sitting over them.  When she leaves, it looks like there are no eggs at all.

Today's Brunch

Andrea invited us to have a dog walk and Easter brunch at her home this morning.  Also invited were Josh and Susan with their dogs Homie and new puppy Millie.

Gail provided this table decoration.  I don't know where she pulls stuff out of, but name a theme and she'll make a stunning presentation for it.

Left to right: Daisy, Andrea, Rio, Susan, and Homie.

Josh and I share an interest in photography.  Millie is that black spot in the grass in front of Homie.  I wish I had gotten a picture of Millie to show you how cute she is!  The dogs all behaved very well together.  Andrea's property includes a long stretch of the river.  

Working With Lincoln County Parks

 Yesterday, Jim Welch and I spent the day touring various county parks with Kelly Perry, Lincoln County Parks Operations Supervisor.  We installed a duck box, scoped out other locations for future installations, and ended the day visiting Dawn Harris, U.S. Fish and Wildlife visitor services manager.  She has an amazing, bird friendly home in Toledo.

Our first stop was the mouth of the Salmon River at Knight's Park north of Lincoln City. Kelly and SWIFTY member Kurt, who met us there, are pictured.  We ruled out this area because Wood Ducks shun salt water, and this was a tidal stream.

It was on to driving up the Siletz River.  This park was beautiful, but the river here is tidal.  Back in the car.

We found a good location at Brown's Park further up the river.  Kelly and I are driving in a T-Post that will help stabilize the pole the duck box is mounted on.

Bolting on the duck box.

Tadah!  Kelly and Jim.  Kelly has an abundance of positive energy and has formed relationships with the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians to restore wetlands that benefit flood control.  Her other duties are cleaning up messes created by her predecessors, staffing, working with multiple agencies, and getting grants.

Dawn Harris showed us one of her many duck boxes surrounding her home.  They all get occupied, mostly by Wood Ducks, but also some Hooded Mergansers.  We learned a lot from her in our short visit.  

April Returns!

 Friday, we saw the first egg in our duck box.  This morning, we saw "April" in the box laying another egg (most likely).  She covered them up before leaving the box, so we aren't positive of the count.  I guess I should call her "April 3" since I can't be sure she is the same duck we've had over the last 3 years.

One visible egg first seen on Friday.  I have a videocamera mounted inside the roof of the box attached to a cable that runs up the bank from the river to a little TV inside the house.  Picture quality is usually pretty bad as lights or flash can't be used inside the box.  Like a trail cam, it uses infrared light when it's dark, resulting in a black and white image.  If enough light is coming in the box entry hole, the camera switches to color.

April laying an egg this morning.  She is a Hooded Merganser.

Duck Box Install At Oxbow

 Yesterday, Gail, Paul, and I put in two duck boxes at The Oxbow on the north side of Alsea Bay just outside of Waldport.  This is on land managed by the Lincoln County Watershed District. I made the boxes and predator guards.  Paul is a master cabinetmaker as a hobby, and is making a couple more duck boxes from scraps of of cedar he has glued together.  

The first box we put on an old levee.

The second box we put in on the "shore".  Paul and Gail were a big help in getting these in.  We had to carry everything about a quarter of a mile.  I managed to find a deep spot and plunged into the water up to my butt.  It was a fun outing, and we are hopeful that some Wood Ducks will take to nesting in these boxes.  

Moose In Sarah's Yard

Sarah, my sister in Anchorage, sent us pictures this morning of a young moose nibbling her landscaping in her backyard.  She kindly lets moose do their thing while she observes these magnificent animals from her kitchen.

Along the River

 

Weather Report

 February Rainfall

The numbers are in for February.  February had 16.33" of precip.  The total for 2024 through the end of February was 49.63".  That's a lot of water over two months!

You can see how few days we've had without rain.  This is fewer than usual.  Temperatures were also milder than usual.

March Comes In Like A Lion

The milder temperatures ended on March 1st.  We've had snow the past 3 days mixed in with some hail, sleet, and rain.  Temperatures have stayed around 30 to 36 degrees. 

The morning of March 1st we had huge snowflakes.

This morning we hiked up the 5300 where it was still snowing.  The snow was not knee deep, Gail just happens to be on her knees.

Skunk Cabbage is now blooming.  Hopefully, this is a sign that March will go out like a lamb.

SWIFTY Update

Last Thursday, Jim, Marty, and I met Evan Hayduk at this property which is part of a watershed conservancy.  Evan is in charge of watershed conservation for Lincoln County, and invited us to this beautiful spot to see if we could put up some duck boxes.  Beavers have worked on an old levee to create this large pond.  We are excited that this will be a great Wood Duck area and plan to have two boxes there by the end of the month.

I just finished making these 15 Tree Swallow boxes.  It was a good little project to have during this cold weather.