Youngsters

I've been doing a lot of posting today, as I have to stay by the phone in the house.  We have a wasp nest above the kitchen ceiling in an enclosed part of the attic.  Early this morning they drilled through the drywall ceiling and were emerging into the house.  We managed to tape over the hole with clear packing tape and kill the wasps loose in the house.  I tried spraying their entry hole on the outside of the house last night with wasp spray, but that just made them mad.  I have been waiting about 8 hours for any of 3 pest control companies to call me back.  Meanwhile, the wasps are enlarging the hole under the tape, and you can hear them chewing at the drywall.  

Sooo, I'm calming myself down by looking at and posting nature pictures. 

This fawn appears to be a wet newborn.

This might be the same fawn 17 days later.

The Common Merganser family of 14 ducklings is really thriving.  They swim so fast when chasing fish!

This and That

Yesterday, we had a friend and his granddaughter from Southern California come to visit.  Mark was a part of the volunteer team that Gail worked with at the Humane Society in Encinitas.  He and his wife bought a house in Eugene to be close to their daughter and help care for their grandchildren.  Piper enjoyed throwing rocks into the river and climbing around the steps on the decks.   Daisy enjoyed cruising around with Lea, their dog.

 

This has been the best year by far for our old blueberry bushes.  Every 3 days I've been getting about this amount.  Some of the branches are so loaded they are almost lying on the ground.

Pale Swallowtail Butterfly on hydrangea plant.

On July 1st, we met Bob and Mary for a hike to the top of Mary's Peak, the highest peak in Oregon's coastal range.  We started fairly far up the mountain.  We could see Mt. Hood, Mt. Jefferson, The Sisters, and the fog on the coast.

Most of the wildflowers had come and gone except for the Columbia Tiger Lilies. 

We had a wonderful picnic after the hike.  Bob made a great orzo salad, and Gail prepared supplementary goodies.

A couple weeks earlier, Bob and Mary had come to visit for a couple days.  We had a morning walk on the Yachats Bay before they left.

Snakes Alive!

 This year we have had a large number of garter snakes emerging from under the concrete patio slab and the hot tub.  For the past few weeks they come out around 9:30 A.M., warm up for awhile and then go off to do their garter snake business.  We have counted up to 15 at one time.  

We have two different species of garter snakes here.  The mostly brown ones are Northwestern Garter Snakes, and the more colorful ones are Common Garter Snakes, subspecies Red-sided.

Morning warm-up

An alligator lizard also takes part in the morning ritual.

Nearby, the Rufous Hummingbirds are doing their own thing.

I have always been fascinated by reptiles since I was in second grade.  Gail and I both look forward to seeing them each day.  Daisy remembers where she has seen the snakes, and stops to look for them on our walks.  She almost always leaves them alone, but is very curious about them.