Ah, cool water

It's late July. That means heat. Lots of heat.

After a four-hour blueberry-picking marathon yesterday (I started in the morning, broke for lunch, and concluded in the afternoon), Older Daughter proposed a novel idea: To take a couple of lawn chairs and books, and go dangle our feet in a nearby river. I thought that sounded like a splendid idea, so off we went.

We found a spot and set up our chairs.

The river was very calm and beautiful, and the water was juuuust the right temperature: Cool, not cold.

I tried to photograph a fish (the dark shape in the center of the photo) in the lee of a rock, but the pic didn't turn out too well.

I had my camera out, trying to photograph a dragonfly (without much success)...

...when a bald eagle swooped by and landed on a sandbar some distance away.

It stayed on the shore for a good fifteen minutes. Once in a while it took a sip of water from the river, but otherwise it just sat there.

Finally it heaved itself into the air...

...and took off down the river.

We came home feeling enormously refreshed after the day's heat. Ah, cool water. What a concept.

Avian drama

The other day, I heard a commotion by some birds up in the air. I looked out the window and saw some magpies harassing a red-tailed hawk. This is nothing unusual; birds of prey are often harassed by smaller birds – including passerines – whenever the predators get too close to nests. The red-tailed hawk landed on a tall pine tree down the valley and that, I thought, was that.

A few minutes later, I heard the magpies again. Thinking the red-tailed hawk must have left its perch, I glanced out ... but this time I saw the magpies were harassing a bald eagle. Even more interesting, the bald eagle had something good-sized in its talons, possibly a squirrel. It was at this point I grabbed my camera and went outside to watch.

Much of what took place was in the valley across from us, obscured by trees, so I wasn't able to capture the full drama of what followed, but essentially what happened is the bald eagle was then attacked ... by the red-tailed hawk! In the mêlée, the bald eagle dropped its prey and it landed on the valley floor.

The hawk flew off at this point, but the bald eagle landed on the ground, presumably on its prey. All I could see was its white head through the brush as it guarded its food.

But the eagle had no peace even here. The magpies were back, perching on various bushes nearby and screeching at the eagle. The eagle stayed on the ground a long time, maybe ten minutes, but it wasn't eating its prey. It was just standing there, enduring the abuse of the magpies.

Finally it gripped its food and took off. It took a long time to gain height, ascending in wide circles to climb into the sky. Sorry for the fuzziness of the photos (it's not easy focusing on a soaring bird), but you can see the prey dangling.

Avian drama. It's not easy being an apex predator.

Can anyone relate?

This cracked me up.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, dear readers!

We woke up to a whole bunch of fresh new snow on the last day of 2021.

It was very much a winter wonderland.

The rails on the porch, which are covered by the porch roof, got about three inches (elsewhere, we got about six).

I liked how the Christmas lights glowed through the snow.

The bird feeder was unbelievably popular. I think I've created a monster situation with these birds.

Lots of juncos.

And a few fat quail.

While Don pushed snow with the tractor...

...I leashed up Mr. Darcy and took him on his morning walk.

As I stopped talk with a neighbor, a bald eagle landed on a tree behind her.

It's always a privilege to see these birds. (And another reason I try to never leave home without my camera.)

The sun was kinda bleary.

This morning – New Year's Day – we woke up to a decidedly brisk 2F.

Even Mr. Darcy didn't seem too inclined to leave his bed.

He did, however, condescend to go on a morning walk. We saw lots of deer trails across the way.

If the forecast is accurate, we could see another 11 inches or so of snow this upcoming week.

Such is winter.

Let's pray that 2022 is an improvement over 2020 and 2021!

Eagles and coyotes

The other day a bald eagle swooped over and landed in a tree near our barn.

I mentioned to Don and Older Daughter that if we still had our chickens, I'd be out there guarding them with a baseball bat. An eagle could easily pluck off a hen.

But since our chickens now belong to some neighbors, we didn't have to worry about losing any to predation. Instead, we could watch and enjoy this majestic bird.

Then early yesterday morning, just as it was getting light, I looked up from my computer screen and thought our neighbor's dog was loose in their field. Turns out it was a coyote.

I watched it for quite some time as it wandered around, sniffing after voles and sometime digging for them.

Evidently he didn't find much, since he soon moved on. Once again, our chickens would have been vulnerable, but they're safe in their new home.

Coyotes and eagles. Just part of North Idaho living.

The eagle has landed

Over the years, I've tried to make it a policy never to step foot outside without my camera in my pocket. This is because I never know what kind of interesting or exciting thing might suddenly happen, such as the cows playing tag with a magpie.

Well the other morning I couldn't find my camera, so I shrugged and went about my usual barn chores. Then -- wouldn't you know it -- while I was standing in the corral filling the water tank, a bald eagle flew right over my head and landed on a tall pine next to the barn. And I didn't have my camera. It would have been a perfect shot.

I was kicking myself for missing that photo, and once again promised myself to take my camera every time I step foot outside. Which is how, while driving to town yesterday, I happened to see another bald eagle swoop in and land on a tree overlooking the road. This time I was ready.

My usual procedure when faced with situations like this is not to worry about distance, blurriness, or shooting through the car's windshield (as I was doing). It's just to point and shoot at first, then later try to improve the situation and get better photos. That way, if (in this case) the eagle flew away before I could get closer, at least I had a long-distance blurry photo through the car's windshield.

But the eagle stayed put as I got onto the highway, so I stopped on the shoulder nearer the tree.

I took a few photos, more or less identical, then proceeded into town to do my errands. But on the way back, the eagle was still there.

Feeling satisfied I at last got my eagle photo, I went on my way. I got barely a hundred yards down the road when yet another eagle swooped in and landed on a tree across the road.

Y'know, I really love living in Idaho.

And it sure helps having a camera.