Well not very winding but fun nonetheless.
May your weekend be filled with nature in whatever form and fashion that finds it your way.
Tag: ecology
Surge Channel
Looking out into the Pacific from the end of a large surge channel along the west coast of Vancouver Island. No way around this one but to hike.
Vancouver Island, BC.
Biscuit Basin
We stopped at Biscuit Basin after skiing up to Mystic Falls and were treated with just enough sunlight peeking through the cloudy sky to brighten the landscape on an otherwise cloudy afternoon.
Muskrat Brunch
A week or two ago on a Sunday morning just about at a time I would consider brunch time we watched this Muskrat repeatedly climb up and down the river bank picking mouthfuls of grass, carrying them back to the river, swimming along to his favorite spot and them munching away to their hearts content. No endless mimosas at this brunch buffet but the grass sure looked good.
Clear Creek in Denver, CO.
One
A place where all is one. Where the river meets the sea. I love that this whole landscape is temporal even the sand that forms the bank of the river melts into the sea and then reforms with each ripple of water, each wave and each tidal cycle.
Theives
If you can’t dive to the bottom of the pond to get a tasty mouthful of greens what’s a dabbling duck like this American Widgeon to do? Simple, steal it form those darn diving ducks like this Redhead. We have watched this behavior many times. The Widgeon follows the diving ducks around on the pond and when they come up they try to steal the divers catch. This time a determined Redhead got away with his mouthful of greens and we all need to eat our greens.
Left to right
Driving from left to right across the North Cascades.
Remembrances of a road trip now long overdue.
The Buffleheads
Continuing with what appears to have turned into duck week here on the blog I present the Buffleheads. They make a fine couple don’t they.
They usually seem to keep to the middle of the lakes around here in winter but when it gets cold and the lakes freeze over they move the the nearby creeks where we get a closer look at these amazing little ducks.
From allaboutbird..https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bufflehead/id
“Buffleheads are a buoyant, large-headed duck that abruptly vanishes and resurfaces as it feeds, the tiny Bufflehead spends winters bobbing in bays, estuaries, reservoirs, and lakes. Males are striking black-and white from a distance. A closer look at the head shows glossy green and purple setting off the striking white patch. Females are a subdued gray-brown with a neat white patch on the cheek. Bufflehead nest in old woodpecker holes, particularly those made by Northern Flickers, in the forests of northern North America.”
The Gang’s all here
The male Hooded Mergansers were out in force last Sunday afternoon cursing the pond and showing off to whoever was in the area and in this case the most interested observer was a male Redhead duck, not a female Merganser.
Teals Return
Each winter we await the arrival of the waterfowl which overwinter on the creeks in our vicinity. One of the duck species I always love to see on the creek is the diminutive Green Winged Teal which are the smallest dabbling ducks in North America. This male caught our eye the other day allowed us a few quick photographs before making his way downstream.
nature has no boss 
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