Friends From Way Back When

 Gabriel, from Vallejo, and Bob and Mary from Salem came to stay with us from August 20 - 22.  It was a good time relaxing, feasting, and catching up.  We look forward to this summer ritual every year.

Gabriel, Mary, Daisy, Me, Bob, and Gail

We did a beach hike to Big Stump.

Beaver Creek Tour

 On August 19th, Oregon Coastal Region Manager Dennis Comfort, gave us SWIFTY members at kayak tour of Beaver Creek.  His office is at Beaver Creek, and he has been working with us to finance and advise our nest box installations there.  Even though I've paddled this creek numerous times, Dennis shared his wealth of knowledge about the plants, animals, and history of this ecologically important wetland.

That's Wally on the left and Dennis up ahead. Jim was behind me, and Marty met us back at the launch area. 

Wally, Jim, and Dennis.  We learned about beaver signs, and extermination efforts to get rid of invasive and destructive nutria.  We hope to get support in the coming year from Dennis and Oregon State Parks to establish a nesting colony of purple martins at Beaver Creek.

August Randoms

 The following are some random shots taken in the first 3 weeks of August.

While we were starting the cleanup of a mess left by long term campers, I noticed this hunter's perch up in a tree.

This was some of the mess left in the woods about a mile above our house.  We had seen a couple coming and going for several months last fall and winter, but didn't check out their camp until after we were sure they were gone.  There were items like briefcases, a tennis racket, and a cell phone that made us think they had been stealing from cars.  There were also syringe wrappers.  It is legal to camp in the National Forest for up to two weeks, but we've noticed some folks camping at one spot for over a year.  We and others have reported these camps to the USFS, but there is no enforcement being done.

We plan to take out a bag or two a week of trash from this site.  It could take awhile!  Gail wears her medal, awarded to her by Jim and Ursula Adler, while doing cleanup work.

Cinnabar caterpillars eating up the invasive plant tansy ragwort.

I finally tried out the rotisserie on our giant BBQ that came with our house.  It worked well!

Jim Welch and I visited Ann Jensens's Wind River Farm about a half mile up the road.  She has a beautiful farm on the river.  

A carving marks the pathway down to the river.  Behind it is the grave of one of her relatives.

Gladiola

Gladiolas and crocosmia

Elk

 Last night, a small herd of 6 elk spent at least 2 hours browsing on our property.  The elk here are Roosevelt Elk, the largest of the elk species.  Bulls average between 700 to 1,100 pounds.

 

Summer Photo Potpouri

This is a post of summer photos from walks around the yard, hikes, and trips to the beach.  This has been a mild summer - only one hot day, but practically no rain.  The vegetable garden got off to a late start, and is just now beginning to take off, maybe too late.  The river has almost 4 times the usual flow right now from all the late spring rain.

Every now and then a pileated woodpecker spends time in our alder snags.  They have a prehistoric look.

 

Doing some preening.

We had a successful nest of  violet-green swallows.  All 3 of our swallow nests are now empty, and we sure miss their cheery presence.  They're now off to Central and South America, but they often return to the same nest site the following year.  Hope to see you in 2023!

Rufous hummingbirds have been enjoying our crocosmia and other flowers.

A macro lens shot of lichen on a twig.

A macro shot of the growing tip of a fern.

Douglas squirrels are common here and love to torment Daisy.

We've taken advantage of some minus tides this summer.

Sea anemones left high and dry.

This little crab was about 3/8 of an inch long.

Little agates backlit by the sun.

Cormorants

A violet-green swallow at its nest box.

Tree swallows waiting to be fed.  We are now making our boxes with an entry hole in the middle, and two portholes.  This helps the smaller nestlings get fed if there is a larger nestling dominating the entry hole.  All the babies survived and fledged four days ago.

It looks like the nestling in the middle just got an insect meal.  A pair of tree swallows catch about 6,000 insects a day when they have nestlings.

I watched this cedar waxwing repeatedly catching flying insects.  They eat more than just berries.

While we were at the dump, we heard osprey calls coming from this cell tower.  It must have been over a 100 feet tall.  We stopped back the next day with binoculars and camera.

At the top, right under a flashing beacon, was an osprey and at least one chick.  Look at the size of that nest!

A dogwood tree in bloom below our house.

We explored some sea caves during the minus tides.

Behind Gail is the entrance to the cave in the prior shot.

We look forward to seeing our colorful garter snakes through spring and summer.  Sometimes we see 4-5 at the same time a few feet from our backdoor. 

Wally has been making gourmet sea salt in our greenhouse using this evaporator he built.

That wraps up this episode!

Cougar Looking for Lunch (or Love?)

 This past Thursday, Gail and I were doing errands in Newport.  While we were gone, one of my two trail cameras recorded a cougar walking through the property at 12:01 PM.  At the same time, my other camera recorded two deer about 200 feet away.  Our own Serengeti?

This cougar appears to be a juvenile because of its seemingly small size.  Bears, otters, and a cougar - what a good month for wildlife sightings!

River Otter Family

 We certainly have been seeing otters this month.  Last week, we had a family of five come up the river just below the house.  They are so energetic and fun to watch.  The three youngsters were playing, and dog-piling each other and one of the parents.  We also saw them turning over rocks with their snouts and catching crayfish.  I did get photos even though the light was low.

I'm getting the hairy eyeball from this parent.

Two pups are mobbing a parent while another pup and parent explore the vegetation.

Three otters looking for crayfish or anything that moves.

Got one!

Otters in action!