Wild Fidalgo

The sun came out yesterday, which can be a rare event during February around here.  I took the opportunity to visit Cranberry Lake in Deception Pass State Park.  I spotted some of the park residents also taking advantage of the sunshine.  Even though it was still chilly, these Canada Geese ( Branta canadensis ) were obviously having a good time bathing, splashing and socializing. Altogether, there were thirteen birds in the group.  I am not sure if these are year-around residents, or migratory birds spending winter in the park.  We have seen family groups here before. Canada Geese have become unwelcome pests in some locales .  They often find city parks and golf courses to their liking which leads to conflicts with humans.  They can also be a threat to aviation.  On Vancouver Island in Canada, wildlife biologists are concerned that their increasing numbers are damaging the natural habitat and threatening other wildlife. Locally, I am...

We wildlife enthusiasts spend a lot of time nourishing our left brains with data about taxonomy, habitats, ranges and the like.  If you are like me, you want to know everything possible about the species you see.  Sometimes these pursuits leave little opportunity for the right brain's imagination and creativity.  Even with wildlife photography we can get caught up in the technical details of a photo instead of stepping back to enjoy the "big picture." How great it is to discover a wildlife blog that seems to be designed for the right brain.   Ulf Andersson is an illustrator in Sweden who goes by ArtMagenta on the internet.  He publishes the blog Bird of the Day .  Don't worry, you don't need to tala svenska to read it since his posts are in English.  For me, the drawings evoke a Japanese style of painting, simple, elegant and colorful.  Rather than portraying fine anatomical detail in his birds, he gives us wonderful caricatures that di...

Webster's New World Dictionary defines "sabotage" in part as: "Destruction of railroads, bridges, machinery, etc., as by enemy agents or an underground resistance." "The deliberate obstruction of or damage to any cause, movement, activity, effort, etc." This is the current state of affairs at my Birdcam 2 station in the back yard.  The key words in the definition are "enemy agents," "deliberate," and "damage."  In this case, the enemy agents are the non-native Eastern Gray Squirrels ( Sciurus carolinensis ): This Birdcam photo shows the suet feeder under attack when it was still relatively undamaged.  For several weeks I had been getting virtually nothing but squirrel photos at the Birdcam from dawn to dusk.  Two entire cakes of suet would be consumed in a single day.  The situation was insufferable.  I took some steps to try to solve the problem.  You can see these in the photos: I used a more robust lat...

Chestnut-backed Chickadee ( Poecile rufescens ) on Dogwood Reconsidering the NWF My yard is a Certified Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.  Their banner, currently in the upper right corner here, has been proudly displayed.  Thanks to information from Kelly Brenner ( @MetroFieldGuide , Google+ ) and Carol Sevilla Brown ( @CB4wildlife , Google+ ) , I have learned that the NWF has apparently entered into a partnership with Scotts Miracle-Gro®.  This is the familiar garden fertilizer and pesticide company and a division of the Big-Ag chemical company ICL.  A firestorm has erupted over this news.  To those of us seeking to create natural, sustainable habitats in our yards, the very idea of this partnership is bewildering, to say the least. While this gets sorted out, those of us in Washington State have an alternative.  The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife also has a Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary Program .  I am apply...

I heard the distinctive noise the moment I got out of my truck.  It was the persistent, chattering alarm call of a Douglas Squirrel ( Tamiasciurus douglasii ).  In Deception Pass State Park, there is a small grove of Shore Pines right next to the West Beach parking lot.  The noise was coming from inside the grove.  There were other, higher pitched squeaking sounds also coming from the pines.  The squirrel was obviously upset, and a hollow rotted log under the trees was the focus of his ire. Douglas Squirrels are aggressively territorial.  I suspect another critter had invaded his domain and it was not to be tolerated.  I found an account of a Douglas Squirrel killing a much larger Norway Rat which illustrates how pugnacious they can be towards intruders. I believe this is the fellow I met in the same location last fall.  When he spotted me watching, he interrupted the task at hand to come out and say hello.  A second hollow log n...

Those westerly winds can play havoc with the coiffure.  This pair of Bald Eagles ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus ) dropped by this afternoon for a visit.  They engaged in some robust chatter with a second pair of eagles in a nearby tree.  I couldn't tell if it was social or hostile.  It was definitely noisy.

Birders consider it auspicious to spot a new species on the first day of the New Year.  I didn't spot any new birds yesterday, but I did discover this little fellow in a tide pool at Deception Pass State Park.   Vosnesensky's Isopod ( Idotea wosnesenskii ) is named for a Russian zoologist who collected them in the nineteenth century.  An isopod is a crustacean like shrimp and crabs and related to the sowbugs and woodlice we find under rocks in the garden.  It is also called Kelp Isopod and Rockweed Isopod.  To me, it looks ancient, like something out of a Paleozoic sea. I first spotted the little guy swimming.  They swim using paddles under the abdomen.  Despite the 5 dollar name, it was only 1.25 inches (3.2 cm) long.  Had it been motionless, I doubt I would have noticed it.  This one is the same color as the local kelp and rockweed.  Those that are found in eel grass beds will be green.  This was an auspicious find as they ...