New Critter on the back deck today!

I saw a new critter this morning by the hot tub. He saw me while he was probably hunting a rabbit or other small mammal. In the last picture you can see the long tail which leads me to believe that he is a long-tailed weasel. When I spotted him I had to decide between grabbing the camera or finding Chuck out in the garage. You can see the route I choose...Here he is ready to pounce.

This was the first encounter!

TOO COOL!!!

April Birds

Seems we do have some Brown Headed Cow Birds.

The American Goldfinch - one of many!

The male wood duck came up to the feeder.

The female wood duck has taken to her nest box that Chuck built in February. I saw her fly in on April 27th for the first time. She has made a use for the tree that fell in one of the winter storms. You can see her nest box in the background on a tree on the left. This is the third day in a row - so I am thinking there are 3 eggs so far. Chuck thought he was just building the nest box to keep me happy. Little did he know the wood duck would find it. He may have to build more now!

Spring has arrived

The birds were out this weekend. The Pine siskin was looking very handsome on the feeder.

An iris from Easter.

This bird looks like a Savannah Sparrow to me. I don't think I have seen him here before.
The goldfinch looking to see what I was up to.

The Pine Siskin didn't seem to mind me watching him.

The pine siskin was dipping into the pond for a blade of grass.

He got it.

April updates

Chuck built the wood duck box and now they are arriving. We will wait and see if they use it for their nest or if the resident mallard chases them off. The pileated woodpecker sure makes enough noise to let me know he is in the area.

This tree at Nisqually last month captured my attention - not as much as seeing a great horned owl though.

Wood Duck Box

We were preparing for next weekend's Great Backyard Bird Count by filling up all of our feeder's this weekend. Which then lead us to finally build and install our first Wood Duck Box. We have seen a wood duck couple in the pond once this season and maybe one or two other times in the last few years. Maybe the box will intice them to stay.

Ridgefiled Wildlife Refuge

We went to Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge today. There were quite a few birds out for us to view. I captured a picture of this great blue heron picking a small fish out of the water.

Punkin