Tag Archives: Eagle

Variety

We’ve been enjoying a variety of hummingbirds at our feeders this season.

We call this one, Rusty. I think it’s a Rufous

Besides the hummingbirds and all the other variety of birds in our yard we had some more visits from mama deer and 2 fawns.

After being under the weather the past week I’m good as new. Thank you for your kind thoughts! We had a quiet week and most of the weekend staying home. We decided to not attend church on Sunday morning just in case there were any lingering germs to share. We did go to the trail early on Sunday to continue our walking conditioning.

Here are some photos from the trail on Sunday morning we only passed one other human on the trail.

I only had my phone with me so this zoomed photo of the eagle isn’t too clear. This is a regular perch for this eagle.

This is getting to the last stretch before we are back at the parking area. We listened to a sermon from Second Corinthians on the New Covenant on this walk.

We both have appointments for eye exams this week so we’ll get in some Spokane shopping adventures while there. Dear avoided being in the house with me and my germs last week and worked in his shop on the mounting of the snow plow for his truck. He wants it ready for this coming winter and it involved a lot of thinking, welding and building of mounts, etc. A few tweaks and it should be good to go once we get snow.

His next project is our Master Bath. That won’t start till October. We’ll try to buy the tile for that project while we are in Spokane this week.

What’s new in your corner?

Early Morning Walk

On Sunday we left our country bungalow at 5:45am to drive to the Rotary Trail for an early morning walk. It takes us 10 minutes to get to the parking lot for the trail.

Our path was pleasant and the early morning coolness was good for a walk.

We were treated with an eagle sighting.

We are resolved to get many walking miles in to get conditioned for our trip in September.

It was wonderful to be serenaded by many birds.

This trail borders the golf course but no golfers were out yet. We only met 3 other humans walking this morning.

The Canadian Geese were honking as they got booted from one of the greens.

This walk, 2.9 miles, takes just under an hour to complete so we were home in time to breakfast, shower and head to Sunday School and Church. A wonderful morning!

On the schedule this week is completing the painting of the exterior of the house, have our kids over for a meal, prayer meeting, watering, harvesting our garlic, our weekly mowing/weeding and a trip to Spokane to restock some essentials. What are you up to?

A New Year for the Hodgpodge

Hello Hodgepodgers!

It’s Snow Angel season around our parts and…

It’s time for a new year of Wednesday Hodgepodge! Thank you Joyce for coming up with the brain teasers each week.

1. Share one happy moment/memory from the holiday season. 

Seeing each of the three vehicles filled with our most precious cargo pull into our driveway on Christmas day!

2. Let’s be reasonable with our expectations going into this new year, k? What is one thing you’d like to accomplish/improve/complete/do in 2022? 

I’d like to stick to completing a 30 minute cardio workout most days in 2022.  Shoveling off the back deck with Dear on Monday qualifies as a cardio workout! Snowshoeing out my back door is on the agenda this week. After wrapping up this post I’m happy to report I blazed a snowshoe trail in our back acres on Tuesday.

3. Every January 1st (since 1976) Lake Superior University has published a list of words they’d like to see banished from the Queen’s English. Words may be banished due to misuse, overuse or just general uselessness (go here to read more about how the words are chosen). Here are the words/phrases they’d like to see banished in 2022-

wait, what?-no worries-at the end of the day-that being said-asking for a friend-circle back-deep dive-a new normal-you’re on mute-supply chain

Which of these words/phrases do you use regularly?

‘No worries’ is the one phrase I’ve used most regularly, the others more randomly.  I do say, ‘did you mute your phone’ to Dear before the church service begins.

Which of these words would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why?

‘A new normal’ is a phrase that strikes me negatively mostly because much that comes with this phrase are things that shouldn’t be normal, in my opinion.

Is there a word/phrase not on the list you’d like to add? (I misunderstood this question the first time around and added a phrase I like, oops) Here’s one I’d like banished.

‘Pandemic of the unvaccinated’ is the phrase I’d like to see banished because it is false from it’s root up.

4. Best thing you ate in the month of December? 

Our traditional Christmas dinner. Prime Rib, roasted veggies, creamed corn and Yorkshire Pudding.

5. January 5th is National Bird Day.

Are you a bird lover? 

Yes!

What’s your favorite bird to see in the wild?

Eagle is by far the favorite with hawks coming in at second. I have a strong desire to see an owl in the wild and if I ever do it might win the favorite spot!

Choose a phrase from the list that follows and tell us how it relates to your life currently…eat like a bird, bird’s eye view, early bird, bird-brained, free as a bird, a little bird told me, or kill two birds with one stone.

‘Early bird’ is a phrase that relates to my life currently. Sleeping in has escaped me. I’m up before dark these days. Our pop was always early instead of late and I’m a chip off the old block when it comes to arriving at a scheduled event early, too!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

It looks like 2022 will not be a drought year in our parts! As of Tuesday morning January 4th we have about 20 inches of snow accumulated in our yard. More snow is on the way with temperatures that will not allow the snow to melt for awhile.

Only Joseph is still above the snow. We’ll see if he gets completely covered tonight!

To all my hodgepodging friends, I hope 2022 is a year filled with good things that draw you closer to the God who created you!

The Rotary Trail Take Two

Last Saturday Dear and I decided to enjoy the Rotary trail early in the morning.

I wonder what constitutes a notable tree? I googled it and here is the information I retrieved.

This Douglas-fir at the north-south/east-west junction of the Rotary Trail is located adjacent to the local golf course and Evergreen Drive. It is prominent for its size (32-inch diameter at breast high) and its position at the highest point (1910 feet) on the Rotary Trail.

 

We saw a birdwatcher on the trail and he told us about an eagles nest and a Harrier Hawk that he saw on the trail.

We didn’t see the nest but we saw an Eagle on the top of these electrical transmission lines.

It was fun to capture this little guy, too. Correct me if I’m wrong birdie friends. Upon further investigation this bird looks most similar to a Wilson Snipe.

The Harrier Hawk.

Next time we walk this trail I will take my longer lens so I can zoom in closer to get photos of these beautiful creatures.

I’m learning about general revelation and special revelation in studying Psalm 19. General revelation cannot convert sinners. Salvation comes only through special revelation as the Word of God is effectually applied by the Spirit of God. So much to learn. I don’t want to stop learning about what is of the most importance in eternity.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
    and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
    and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
    whose voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
    and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
5     which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
    and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
    and its circuit to the end of them,
    and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
    making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
    enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is clean,
    enduring forever;
the rules[d] of the Lord are true,
    and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
    and drippings of the honeycomb.
11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.

Hope the last two days of May are good for you in your corner of the world. We might be walking the trail again this morning with my long lens.

Our Backyard Zoo

Today is the last day of April and the final letter for the April A to Z Challenge. Our back acres are a mobile zoo of sorts. The animals come and go as they please. The birds fly in and out.

 

 

 

There are a few other animals and birds who come and go into our backyard zoo that I haven’t managed to get a photo of. It’s always a treat to see someone new show up for a visit. Our yard was totally fenced in when we first moved here but we’ve taken a few sections of fence out for Dear’s shop project so the four legged variety of animals have easy access now.

And that is the finale for the April A to Z Challenge for 2020.

Hope things are well with all of you on this last day of April. Will May bring good news of loosening of the Stay at Home orders? We are hoping for that. We did hear our Farmer’s Markets are opening and that fishing and hunting are also okay with social distancing.

For the Birds…

For Mosaic Monday I’m sharing some collages/mosaics of our backyard visitors.

Red-Winged Black Bird

These backyard Thrushes and Flickers have been the most fun to watch.

This next visitor surprised us along with the female eagle that I didn’t get good shots of as they came flying into the trees in our back acreage. We hope they were scouting a spot to build a nest. I’ll have a full post dedicated to the Eagles soon

Joining Angie at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf for Mosaic Monday.

We woke up to frigid temperatures this morning. It got down to -6 before it inched up again. After church it was a balmy 27 degrees. The sun has a lot to do with that. The stars were amazing to see in the night sky and morning before dawn skies. Spectacular. We’ve never lived somewhere outside of the city lights so stars were hard to see but now we get an eyeful! While standing and looking up in the sky that song “In the stars His handiwork I see, on the wind He speaks with majesty, though he ruleth over land and sea, what is that to me” comes to mind. It’s an oldie but a goodie.

The Winter Trail…

On Wednesday we had a dry day with some sun breaking through the clouds and I was happy that our daughter Katie agreed to join me on a walk on our favorite trail.

2014-01-15 winter trailWe start out on the Sammamish River Trail close to downtown Bothell and heading west it soon becomes the Burke-Gilman Trail.

winter trail 002It was so nice to have a dry day for some exercise. Thirty minutes out and thirty minutes back is our standard plan. That translates to about three miles at our pace.

winter trail 003The reflections on the river were exceptional.

winter trail 004

winter trail 005

winter trail 009

We were dressed for the cold. Katie had her ear muffs and gloves. I walk a little warmer and didn’t need muffs or gloves on this day.

winter trail 008The Canadian Geese were out in numbers and squawking quite loudly.

winter trail 014winter trail 012Part of the trail runs alongside a public golf course with bridges that traverse the Sammamish River.

winter trail 019

More reflections in the river.

winter trail 020

winter trail 021The best treat during our walk besides the good feeling that our heart rates were being elevated was spotting this eagle!

winter trail 022

winter trail 030

winter trail 031Ducks and Geese are a dime a dozen, not to mention seagulls and crows, but seeing an eagle is always a very special treat.

winter trail 032I’m still hoping to make walking part of my weekly habit. It is so much easier to get motivated to step out and walk when the weather is dry.

Where do you like to walk?

The Eagle

The Eagle

By Alfred, Lord Tennyson

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.
~
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

We spent the night on Whidbey Island and in the early morning we headed out on a walk along the Saratoga Passage. In the distance we saw a bird with a white crown and knew it was an Eagle. We were hoping it would stay put until we made our way down to the landing.

The Inn where we stayed is up on the bluff.
It always amazes me how feisty crows can be around Eagles. The Eagle gave one screech at the crow and the crow backed off.
Before we headed back for our breakfast at the Inn we were alerted to the fact that a whale was making it’s way along the Saratoga Passage. I couldn’t get a great shot of the spray because it was hard to predict. It was still exciting to see.
~
After breakfast we checked out and had a couple adventures on the Island before we headed to the Ferry Terminal for our ride back to the mainland. I’ll show more photos from our adventures and from the Inn soon.