Skagit Valley Nature

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Saturday, December 11, 2010

Bow Hill Rd Racoons.

We spotted these two on our way to Skagit Skate this morning. It was dark, even at 9:30 AM. These two were kind of out on a limb and very patient with the crazy lady with the camera inching closer and closer.




When we returned from town, they were still in the same tree, but closer to the trunk.



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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

The swans are back, 12-07-2010

The roost balcony provided a marvelous opportunity this morning. The swans were in the field just to the South, between us and Bow Hill Rd. While talking with Ma this morning, I stood outside on the balcony. A swan surprised me by coming in from the North, thus hidden until it was right above me (10-15') and need I say surprised the heck out of me. These birds are huge. They are also so graceful and gorgeous. I love this time of year in the valley.





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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Same tree, maybe same eagle----

This tree is at the corner of Farm to Market and the Bayview Edison roads. It's a tree where I can walk in a driveway and get pretty close. Last year I was able to photograph a gorgeous eagle. This is probably the same one. Majestic to say the least.


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A youngster a hair south of Edison

As we were turning north into Edison, we watched this youngster come in for a landing at Peggy's. That's the local liquor store. I quickly grabbed the camera and tripod as soon as Bill had the Sienna stopped. This eagle was a bit nervous as I worked my way closer. He finally couldn't take my approach and lifted off. He was magnificent.

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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Harvesting wheat

Watching all the farm activities is what makes life wonderful on the farm. This wonderful scene happened this morning.



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Thursday, February 26, 2009

February and the farm work begins.



Ty and Shane spraying a field about a mile north of us. Ty has the big yellow sprayer with the tracks on it for the sloppy Winter and Spring weather. I loved the fact that a train was passing by while the guys were in the field.


















This morning at about 8AM I stepped out to snap this picture of Lummi Island. Here at the end of February, we weren't exactly happy to have the ground covered again. Thankfully by the afternoon it was gone. I don't remember Lummi covered like this, even in December when we were blanketed.


















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Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The Quack(ers) are back.

Today was a wet one and just made for ducks. Back when the University of Oregon was in the football hunt, mid '90's, their motto was The Quack is Back, thus a stretch on the lead for this entry. (Bill has the correct UO slogan. He was almost laughing with tears at what I wrote, since he figures that'd be a very benign threat--it was The Quack Attack is Back.)About 3 this afternoon I heard lots of noise outside. As I opened the back door, it appeared the field was once again alive, just like last year. I ran in to get my camera. Of course, I had to switch lenses and even with all the falter all, I made it back out to capture these events. In the first pic, they were right out behind our fence, thick as thieves. Then all of a sudden the entire flock (is that what you call a bunch of ducks?) lifted into the air. I finally caught sight of an eagle coming from behind the old barn, flying from north to south. Pretty soon there was another one, but in my excitement and the pouring rain, this was the best shot of the four pix. There were hundreds of ducks flying this way and that way. I found it amazing that there weren't any visible collisions. I think these were Golden Eagles, but like I write, it was raining like crazy and I was in a bit of a hurry.


After flying around long enough for the eagles to leave the area, the ducks landed just in a field south of where they were. The standing water was all a roil as they landed. The six in the overhead picture came right up and over the deck.

About the time I was ready to head in to dry off and warm up, three swans came into view. Again, the beauty of the farm and being able to view nature from our deck is just awesome.
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Saturday, December 13, 2008

Sights and Sounds in the Skagit Valley

I know the video quality it lacking, but I want to share the sights and sounds from this morning. The swans can be noisy on the ground, but they usually are honking up a storm when they're inbound. You may also be able to hear the ducks and other birds in the background.


Since it was quite cold this morning, a shade under 30, it was easy to hear all the birds. In the first picture, I was caught a bit off guard and nearly missed this immature eagle coming from the East, up and over the barn. The second is a hawk heading the other direction. I think it was a Red Tail.


In the third, there are a few of hundreds of gull that were in the air. Have to admit it was a bit nerve racking this morning, looking up. Know what I mean? In the forth picture there are some Mallard ducks. They're just gorgeous, but they won't let me get too close. With these and all the swans and other birds, there was a noisy chorus going on this morning.
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