Like Mice with Wings

One of the more common forest birds here on the Olympic Peninsula is the Pacific Wren. Formerly considered the same bird as the Winter Wren, it was split out as a separate species back in 2010.

Do you see me?

Like most wrens the Pacific Wren is small and brown. But this one is even smaller than most, dull in color, and it likes to skulk around on the ground in heavy cover. We hear them rustling around much more often than we see them and have come to think of them as "mice with wings".

We finally got one to pop out of deep cover long enough to get a few decent pictures. It continues to be gray and cloudy here most of the time, so pictures in the deep woods are a challenge to say the least!

We're hoping that when breeding season gets started in the next few weeks these guys might become a little more vocal and easier to find.

One interesting field mark for the Pacific Wren (as well as the Winter Wren) is their noticeably short tail. Most wrens have a longish tail that they like to hold up over their backs. It is a distinctive posture that lets us know they are wrens!

But the Pacific wren has the shortest tail of all the wrens, and it really stands out when you finally see one well.

Mark

You can’t even lick ‘em!

Our first day here we were told about the Rough-skinned Newt that lives on the refuge.  There is even a sign on the main path warning folks not to handle them.  They are found throughout the West Coast and British Columbia. 

Many newts produce toxins from skin glands as a defense against predators but the Rough-skinned Newt produces the same toxin found in puffer fish.  It also radiates an acrid smell as a warning to stay away.

We were told that in 1979 a 29 year-old went into a bar and, on a bet, swallowed a Rough-skinned Newt.  He was dead before the day was out.  Generally the toxin is released only if the newt is ingested but skin irritation can occur if the newt is handled.

Yesterday was a very wet, cold day here and we saw a couple of them.  We met some folks on the trail who said they had already counted 12 on their walk.  This is the only salamander active above ground and out in the open during the day. 

He’s a stocky dude!  The skin is granular but the males are smooth-skinned during breeding season.  Overall they are about 4 1/2 to 7 inches in length.  The iris is yellow or silver and they will display a bright colored underside when threatened.  They can be yellow or tan but are usually dark brown or black. 

Garter Snakes (the only snake in this area) are the only known animal today that can eat a Rough-skinned Newt and survive.

Teri

How Do You Open a Clam??

Teri and I were walking along the beach here, and saw something drop from the sky about 30 feet from us. Almost immediately a large gull landed and picked the object up. It turned out to be a clam that was about the size of a pecan.

The gull immediately flew back up into the sky with the clam, and dropped it.

It turns out that the gull was trying to get the clam open. We don't know how many times the clam had been dropped, but this time seemed to do the trick!

With the shell broken open the gull was able to enjoy its meal. 

It is great to be in the right place at the right time to see something like this happen!

Mark

Where The Heck Is Spring?

Fresh snow.

View out our back window yesterday morning.

We've been reading about how hot it is back in Texas - it's certainly not hot here!

The temperature hasn't been higher than 45 since we arrived.

We Have Arrived!

San Juan Islands, Strait of Juan de Fuca, Olympic National Forest, Scoters, Auklets, Murrellets, Orcas.

Are these places/things you have heard about but didn’t know where they were or where to find them?  We’ve got them all!

We arrived at the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge in Washington about noon on Saturday.

The Visitor Services Manager was the only staff working and since we already had the code to the entry gate, we let ourselves in and got set up.

We got our paperwork, hats, pins, t-shirts, and (new to us) sweatshirts.  After a quick tour of the refuge, we were told to just take it easy this week. 

So far, we have found this place amazing.  If we were going on vacation this is exactly the kind of place we would seek out.

There is only one “volunteer pad” so we are the only resident volunteers here.  There are about 70 active local volunteers.  We’re parked in the maintenance yard behind a locked gate overlooking a newly planted oak savannah, away from any public visitors.

Part of the maintenance yard.

Garry Oak Trees

We’re not sure what all we will be doing here, we’ll find out in the coming week.

Right now we are going to start exploring this very unusual refuge and beautiful surrounding area.

Black-tailed Deer

The end!

Teri

Birding the RV Park

We stayed at a very nice RV park outside of Portland. The park was nearly full and they had a long waiting list for monthly spaces!

For the most part the weather has been cold and dreary, but the sun popped out a few times and we were able to explore around the grounds here a bit. There is a small creek lined with blackberries and other shrubby brush, and we've found quite a few birds.

A tough little Ana's Hummingbird liked to perch at the top of a small tree. 

Some California Scrub-Jays have decided to switch states.

Golden-crowned Sparrows are a bird that I haven't seen since 2002, and that Teri has never seen. There are dozens of them here!

Another sparrow that we haven't seen in ten years is the Fox Sparrow.

Song Sparrows were living up to their name.

In addition to birds we've seen squirrels and chipmunks. 

Hopefully these rodents keep an eye out for the Red-tailed Hawks that soar overhead. 

We're off to our final destination in Washington!!

Mark

Sun and Disc Golf - A Great Combination

After a morning of fog and rain, the sun finally broke through.  We didn’t waste any time getting in the truck and heading out to one of the local disc golf courses.

I think this is the nicest course we’ve ever been on.  I rarely play so Mark might think differently.  He’s the one that is trying to hit the basket!

The grounds are lush and green and the trees are huge!

This area obviously gets a lot of rain from the looks at all the moss growing on the trees.

There are 2 courses here.  An 18 hole and a 9 hole.  Mark played the 18 hole first.  It was nice to get out into the sun.  The air was cool and crisp.  Pretty much a perfect day.

We finished up the 18 hole course then drove a short distance to the 9 hole course.  During that time the clouds started rolling in and it was getting noticeably colder.

With only 3 more holes to go, it started to sprinkle.  By the last hole the rain had turned to sleet and was coming down a little harder. 

We made it home without any problems.  It was great to finally get outside for a while. 

Even though there are still predictions of snow and rain, we’ve decided to extend our stay here a couple more days.  We’re hoping to be able to explore some tomorrow.

Teri