First photo of the year

So today I woke up and after not having as much photography in 2010 behind me, looked to use his camera at least once on today, the first day of 2011. Result of my first photograph taken in 2011 this morning....a lovely native Douglas Squirrel enjoying some seeds in early sun to warm up in after an 18° night. A great way to start off a year seeing a creature appear so happy in the territory we share!

Might it be autumn yet?

Maybe by looking at the plant life in the mountains you won't quite yet think fall is in full swing. Sure, there are some colors starting to show as vine maples are red in a few places, huckleberries are barely starting to turn crimson but for the highest elevations where vivid red is already happening. But the wildlife is not waiting for some weatherman to indicate to them things are changing – they are busy doing their thing! Wait at most any ridge along the Cascade Crest east slopes and you’ll see numerous raptors soaring over them in their migration southward (turkey vultures, many hawk species, etc…). And as the photo shows, hiking virtually any trail will show signs of the Douglas Squirrel busy dropping the huge fir cones to the ground to then later scurry down to get the seeds out of. A hike into the Alpine Lakes Wilderness to Melakwa Lake yesterday brought me to this lovely cone, and while looking at it two other cones came crashing down from high in the trees above me – bombs away and watch out!

Calls for spring from nature

Oh how today brought thoughts of spring to my head. It wasn't warm by any means, just typical, but some sun breaks didn't hurt either. However it was nature that was telling me, "Hey there, we're starting to think about spring!" and that was what had me dropping what I was up to and just take in the story taking place around the property. Douglas Squirrels were tearing around the trees chasing each other (and that drove my border collie CRAZY!). Robins have replaced the presence of Varied Thrushes around the grounds, there even seems to be far fewer Dark-eyed Juncos roaming about. I had a drive-by stop at a feeder by an Evening Grosbeak, maybe since not being here all winter like they sometimes are it was passing by starting to migrate? Slugs seemed to be forming their assault forces ready to pounce on the property at moments notice once we have a warm evening. I'm sure the first night chorus of Pacific Tree Frogs can't be that far off! So on that note, I announce it to be the official start to the "Watch For Spring 2009" and I'll await hearing what stories you all might be starting to see as well. What a fun way to finish a weekend!

(photo - Douglas Squirrel, known to our border collie as "Douggie", works his way down a Western Red Cedar tree head first watching to see if our wonder dog is stalking it down below!)