Forest Sounds

We are parked next to a nice stand of forest, and get to hear many different birds singing. The most noticeable are a pair of Barred Owls that call every evening.

The Biological Technician here at the refuge stopped by our trailer last night to tell us that she'd located one of the owls. She led us to a spot no more than 100 yards from our trailer and pointed out a Barred Owl perched in a fir tree.

Unfortunately Barred Owls have been displacing the endangered Spotted Owls in much of their range in the Pacific Northwest. Barred Owls are closely related to Spotted Owls, and as they have dispersed into areas where they've not been previously found they have a tendency to drive the less aggressive Spotted Owls away. In some areas Barred Owls are being killed in an attempt to prevent the extinction of Spotted Owls. Kind of a no-win situation.

We'd hope to hear and find other owls as the season progresses.

Mark

Something Different

I use Photoshop Elements to post-process some of my photos. Being able to do things like cropping, adjusting exposure, or lightening up shadows is really convenient. You can't magically turn a terrible out-of-focus image into a thing of beauty like they do on television, but you can "clean up" an image.

I recently took a long series of pictures of a Pigeon Guillemot coming toward me for a landing.  I decided to combine them into a single composite image.  You've got to love those red feet!

I noticed that the bird was doing a pretty good job until the very end, when it sort of teetered over to the side and splashed on in. Maybe it just wanted to be pointed in that direction??

Click on the picture to get a larger version. What do you think??

Mark

They Make Us Pick Up Trash!

Can you believe that?!

Once a week, depending on low tide, we get to are told to get a UTV (Utility Vehicle) and go out on the spit and pick up trash!

So, we load up all our stuff (binoculars, camera, snacks, diet coke, backpack for carrying rocks and things)  oops - I mean (trash bags, trash pickers, shovel) and head out to the spit where we are forced to endure one of the prettiest beach’s I have ever seen the trashy beach. 

It’s a very lonely job but we soldier on.  Through the sandy beaches with not even a foot print of another human. 

Past cute big scary mammals such as harbor seals:

As we stop to take lots and lots of pictures for just a moment to catch our breath from our arduous tasks, we wonder why we, the volunteers, have been assigned this momentous task of trash picking.

Western Grebe

Common Merganser

Alas, among the bull kelp, we find the object of our quest:

Trash.  Washed up from the sea.

Mostly we find rope attached to crab traps or buoys and tangled up in bull kelp.

But seriously, this place is awesome.  It looks like we’ve picked up a lot of trash on this outing but this beach is very clean compared to a lot of beaches we’ve been on in Texas and Florida.  It seems like everyone that walks out here picks up trash. We’ve had people throw trash they have picked up into our cart as we drive by.

So far, this is probably the most enjoyable “job” we’ve been assigned.  We’ve got the ocean, the sand, and we feel like we are making a much needed contribution to the refuge.

Teri. 

Creepy or Cool?

I’ll let you decide.

While out exploring one day we came across this purple castle.

We turned on a road just before the castle so we didn’t get a really good look at it.  On the next road we came across this barn with some large carvings.

This plaque was on the barn wall:

Bandy is the last name of the owner who built the houses and structures around his Trollhaven.  He is also responsible for all of the carvings. 

Mr. Bandy invented a door hinge that is used in most modern commercial airplanes and sold them to Boeing (among others).  During his frequent visits to Boeing in Seattle, he became enamored with the countryside and discovered the land that he later purchased near Sequim. He built his home and the other structures, mistakenly thinking that they would be appreciated by everyone.

But some neighbors did not appreciate his originality, nor the traffic.  To appease them, he built the community a beautiful two-storied fire station, modeled after a Moorish castle.  That cooled everyone down except the original people who had spearheaded the complaint.  In spite of court findings that his creations complied with all state and county ordinances, they continued to harass him. 

Upon discovering the property across the road from these people was available, he bought it and built the house called Neptune's Keep.  His "nasty neighbors" finally backed off after they lost their view of the bay.

The purple castle titled “The Gatekeeper’s Castle” was designed and built from a dream.  Summer rental - $800 per night, minimum 2 nights (5 bedrooms 2 1/2 baths).

This beautiful beast is real.  

Trollhaven is also a working farm.

After seeing the large carvings we really weren’t paying much attention to our surroundings until we realized all the fence post were also carvings.

We ended up driving around twice because we had missed some of the carved fence posts.  These are not all of the fence post, just some of my favorites:

We saw several beautiful houses while driving around and, after some research, found that they are also part of TrollHaven.  Some of the houses and land are for sale, some can be rented and some are occupied.

So, creepy or cool?  I found the carvings so cool I wanted to take pictures of every one of them!  Mr. Bandy is quite talented.

Teri 

A Tale of Two Goldeneyes

There is a great variety of ducks here at Dungeness National Wildlife refuge, including some that are hard to find back in Texas. One interesting pair are the Goldeneyes. There are two, the Common Goldeneye and Barrow's Goldeneye.

As you might guess, the Common Goldeneye is more widespread of the two, ranging nationwide during the winter. We even saw them way offshore while we were leading bird walks at Goose Island State Park this past December. The male Common Goldeneye has an oval white spot on its face and a predominantly white back and sides.

Common Goldeneye male

Here in the Pacific NW they are one of the more common ducks that we see, and are found in both fresh and salt water. Females are more subtlety marked than males, but their orange-tipped bill and golden eye make them distinctive. 

Common Goldeneye pair, with female Bufflehead in the foreground

Barrow's Goldeneyes are more restricted in their range. The Pacific and north Atlantic coasts are their main stomping grounds, though they do move inland to breed. The male Barrow's Goldeneye has a crescent-shaped white mark on its face and a darker back. 

Barrow's Goldeneye male

I've not yet gotten a good picture of a Barrow's Goldeneye female, but they are distinguished from the Common Goldeneye by their entirely orange bill. 

Trio of Barrow's Goldeneye males

We're enjoying the opportunity to closely observe birds that are uncommon in many areas of the country. More to come!!

Mark

Wednesday Bird Walk

The Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society is a very active group of folks.  Among many other activities, they have a year-round Wednesday morning bird walk.  We’ve gone on two and have really enjoyed them. 

Wednesday Birding Group

We meet at the Dungeness River Audubon Center at Railroad Bridge Park that is located along the Dungeness River, the ancestral watershed of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. The Center is the only U.S. Audubon Center with a tribal partner and the only rural center in Washington State. 

Dungeness River Audubon Center

 There are lots of bird feeders around the center where we start the bird walk. 

Hairy Woodpecker

Spotted Towhee

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

After birding around the feeders we head toward the Railroad Bridge.

The Railroad Bridge first carried trains in July, 1915. The last train crossed the bridge in March, 1985.

In 1992, many volunteers helped replace the railroad ties and planked deck of the former railroad bridge.

The total length of the bridge, truss plus trestle, is over 730 ft. long; making the Railroad Bridge the longest bridge on the Dungeness River.

Dungeness river

Our walk is 1 1/2 miles and usually takes a little over 2 hours. We pass through both heavily forested and open areas, and we see a variety of birds along the way.

Varied Thrush

Brown Creeper

We get some great views from the trails.

Still lots of snow on the mountains.

Washington State Bird:  American Goldfinch

Can’t Pick Just One

We walk down to the Spit almost every day.  There are rocks of all sizes and lots of drift wood on the beach.  The sand on the beach is medium brown to black and the rocks are all different colors.

The Spit is on Refuge property so there is absolutely no removal of any rocks, driftwood, etc.  But, if you’re willing to walk West a little bit, you come to a cliff area that is part of the county park.  You’ll find the same kinds of rocks and the same beautiful driftwood and you can pick up a few treasures and put them in your pocket.

I have a hard time limiting myself to just a few rocks.  I try to just get colors I don’t already have.

I’ve found a few more rocks since I took this picture but this will give you an idea of the beautiful colors to be found. 

Even with the cold rainy weather we’ve had, we’re getting out and exploring every day.  We brought a great book with us that is very helpful in finding good places for birds and other interesting things. 

This is probably the most interesting bit of driftwood I’ve ever found.  It looks great on the wall! 

I’ll keep looking down.  There are still plenty of treasures to find!

Washington State Gem: Petrified Wood