CHECKING IN ~~ A BACKYARD SIGHTING ~~ PARTING SHOT

CHECKING IN

We decided to take a walk at Randall Park this past week, just to check in with our duck and goose friends to see how they were doing. As usual, they came running up when we arrived, even though we did not have any cracked corn to give them that day. I wanted to take some video, so we immediately headed to the pond viewing platform, where we saw some old friends that we first met almost exactly one year ago.

The sweet little ducks in the picture above are American Wigeons, which I wrote about in my blog on January 23, 2019.  These ducks are much smaller than the other ducks, and they have a sweet little high-pitched quack of sorts. You can hear them in the background of this video. With their subtle coloring, they are just beautiful.

In addition to the ducks, we saw several Canada Geese on the pond. This guy below wasn't shy at all about showing us his butt since it meant that he could forage around on the pond bottom. This style of feeding is called "dabbling," and I know you've probably heard the term "dabbling ducks." However, if geese use this style of feeding they are not called "dabbling geese" because that term refers just to ducks as a classification. This feeding style is also called "tipping up." I think it should be called "Bottoms Up!"

A good portion of the pond was frozen over enough so that the ducks could walk on it. This Mallard couple looked like they were trying out for the Olympic Games in the Pairs Ice Skating event. It also appears that Mrs. Mallard was going for the Singles Skating event as well. I give them both a 10.

We weren't the only ones watching the ducks. Across the pond on the shore sat a kitty, silently watching as the ducks swam in the water about two feet from her. Granted, it was a cold morning and given how much cats love getting wet, I can understand why she was content just to watch.

A BACKYARD SIGHTING

Yesterday while we were working on the puzzle, I happened to look out the window and spotted a Cedar Waxwing sitting in the big Catalpa tree next door. I ran into the bedroom to look out that window in hopes of seeing one in our yard. A couple of them were in our huge pyracantha bush, so I immediately grabbed my camera and started taking video. It was late afternoon and I was shooting through a dirty window with lots of reflections, so the quality is not as good as I would have wanted. Still, some kind of video is better than none at all.

We used to see Cedar Waxwings a lot in our yard in North Carolina in the wintertime. They do not seem to be as common around here, but we have seen them from time to time. Cedar Waxwings just love to eat berries, and that is the main reason why we planted so many berry-bearing bushes in our yard here in Yakima. Over the years they periodically visit our yard to feast on our pyracantha berries, which seem to be their favorite. I was so happy to be able to get some video of one doing just that.

You can tell the bird in the second half of this video below is a juvenile due to the streaked breast. I believe the one in the first half is an adult, or else at least a one-year old juvenile because it doesn't have a streaked breast. It amazes me that they can swallow these berries whole!

The feathers on the Cedar Waxwings look so smooth and soft, almost like velvet. I remember years ago back in the 70's, my mother found an injured Cedar Waxwing in our yard and brought it in the house in a box. She kept it on top of the washing machine and nursed it back to health. I remember looking at it and thinking it was one of the most beautiful birds I had ever seen. After a day or two, she took the box outside and let it go. The bird flew off, none the worse for its brief capture.

PARTING SHOT

Summer Girl hasn't been very active lately. I can't say as I blame her because the weather has been pretty much dark and dreary, perfect for napping. I managed to catch her up and about in the house this morning. She was not interested in performing for the camera and sauntered off to continue her napping.

That's all for this week, my friends. Join me again next week for more from the Southerner in the Northwest!

BIRDS IN THE SNOW ~~ WALK AT KISSEL PARK ~~ PUZZLE UPDATE ~~ PARTING SHOT

BIRDS IN THE SNOW

Since we had a few inches of snow on the ground, I took the opportunity this past week to get some pictures of the birds around our feeders. I threw out a suet cake in the back yard under that feeder, and before long the sparrows swarmed all over it. The Scrub Jay perched on the little fence first, checking out the scene before descending upon the ground.

You talking to me?

The Scrub Jays have been regular visitors underneath the feeder. They are too big to land on the feeder itself, so they forage around below it, picking up bits of seeds and corn. It surprised me how many seeds and pieces of cracked corn those guys could gobble up, as evidenced by this video below.

I got to wondering how the birds manage to eat something as hard as cracked corn, so I looked it up. The article I read said that all birds have a gizzard, which is an organ that is used to grind up hard food items like seeds and nuts. If you have ever examined the contents of a "giblets bag" from inside a whole chicken, then you have most likely seen a gizzard. In birds that eat food that is easily digestible (like soft insects and soft fruit or nectar), the gizzard is most likely very small and is not used. Other birds, such as our friend the Scrub Jay, need one to grind up the nuts or seeds so that they can digest it (click link here to read more). Another organ that aids a bird in their digestion is the crop, which is where they store food to eat later. Not all birds have a crop, but it seems that most of them do (click link here to read more). It is pretty obvious that the Scrub Jay has a crop because in the video above he is just packing it in with corn for eating later. Birds are such fascinating creatures and I just love reading about them and learning something new.

This winter we have had a couple of visits from Mourning Doves, one of my favorite bird species. We do not see them here at our house very often because we have such a large population of the Eurasian Collared Dove around our neighborhood. We saw them a few weeks ago in with a group of California Quail. This week I saw a couple out in the front yard by themselves. They are such a sweet bird, so quiet and gentle. I love it when they fluff out their feathers to keep warm.

Second picture shows Dove with
feathers fluffed out

One of the doves, I think it was the female, was just sitting in the snow looking all warm despite the cold. The other dove was foraging around and picking up seeds. I wish they would visit more often, but at least I am glad that they have come to see us a couple of times so far this winter. The Mourning Dove was a daily visitor to our yard back in Lumberton, and in the springtime we always had baby doves in the fenced-in back yard. It was a safe haven for birds and squirrels because we didn't have an outside cat at that time.


WALK AT KISSEL PARK

When we took our walks down to Kissel Park it was somewhat early in the morning. We would usually start suiting up around 9:15, so we were probably out the door by 9:30.  The temperature was hovering around 32 degrees, so it wasn't too cold. We still wore our snow pants because if there is a breeze of any kind, it can be frigid. Since there was melted snow on the road which had frozen overnight, I wore my YakTrax (link to website here), which are like snow chains for shoes. Funny though, these things are sold by a company based in Durham, North Carolina! They really do help in the snow and ice. I put them on a pair of boots and we keep them by the front door, to use whenever we go out if the sidewalk is icy.

These boots are made for walkin'...
in the snow

The park is always so beautiful in the snow. I love it when the weather is clear and you can see the hills behind it. The contrast of the white snow and the colorful playground equipment makes for a nice photograph.

Kissel Park

Linda, looking like an Eskimo

Clearing the pathway

Arty Photos

By the time we got back to the house, we were unzipping our coats and taking off our hats. Walking in the snow seems to warm you up really fast! I decided to take a picture of our house, and I found a picture that I took in 2012, almost exactly 8 years ago. I believe this was our first really big snow since moving here. Our front yard has changed quite a bit since then.

January 22, 2020

January 23, 2012

Yucca Plant in the front yard

PUZZLE UPDATE

With the weather being like it has been, I have found myself working on the puzzle more and more. We just finished another puzzle last weekend, and I really liked this one. It's a puzzle that Emily brought us last summer. At Starbucks corporate office, where she works, a group of employees have a puzzle set up so that anyone can work on it when they are taking a break. When the puzzle is completed, they give them away. So Emily brought us a few and we have really enjoyed them. This one was not nearly as hard as the Colin Thompson Christmas Cupboard puzzle. This one is titled Vintage Games, and if you are of a certain age when board games were played (instead of video games), then I am sure you would recognize a lot of these.

"Vintage Games" puzzle

PARTING SHOT

I caught Summer Girl in a rare moment off of the bed this morning. She visited me in the office (AKA puzzle room) and posed nicely for a photo-op. She has been behaving herself lately, so I'm not sure if she thinks Santa is going to come visit her again soon and bring her another catnip slug. You have almost a year to wait, little one!

She was in a good mood

That's all for this week, my friends. Join me again next week for more from the Southerner in the Northwest!

STARTING THE YEAR OFF RIGHT ~~ LATEST PUZZLE ~~ LINDA'S NEW "TREE" ~~ PARTING SHOT

STARTING THE YEAR OFF RIGHT

You all know my love of birds, so it was only fitting that Linda and I get the new year started off right by making a visit to Yakima's jewel, the Arboretum. On January 5th we decided to take the 15-minute drive to the Arboretum for a walk and to check out the bird blind. As we approached the blind we could hear some birds squawking. We thought they were Scrub Jays, but on arriving at the blind and spreading out some bird seed, we were delighted to see that they were Steller's Jays.

Steller's Jay

Side view

These are somewhat large birds, very strikingly colored in various shades of blue. There were a couple of them nearby and as soon as they saw the seed spread out, they came right away. The smaller birds stayed over towards the other end of the line of seed so they could stay out of the Jay's way. It seemed like every time the Jay moved, the sparrows and chickadees and juncos would fly away. It was quite comical to watch, this sort of dance performed by the birds.

The Steller's Jays are always on the move, with their topknots constantly going up and down. It was a challenge to get a good still picture of them, although I did manage to get in a few shots. They were much easier to video.

At one point I counted six of the Jays at the bird blind. We had seen one or two there before, but never as many as six. There were also lots of chickadees around, and you can hear them in the video below, with their cute little "dee-dee-dee, chick-a-dee-dee" call. The background noise, I'm sorry to say, is the freeway that runs alongside the Arboretum and most of the Greenway as well. But at least you can still hear some of the bird sounds on the video.

Can you spot the bird?

After watching the birds at the blind for a while, we decided to get moving as it was quite cold out there. We took a short walk along the part of the Greenway that is located behind the Arboretum. The Yakima River, which runs along the Greenway path, is always a beautiful sight in the winter.

The Arboretum and the Greenway are not the only places we visited the first week of the year. The day before, on January 4th, we went by Randall Park and treated our duck and goose friends to a bag of cracked corn. The ducks are so cute, they come running as soon as they see us drive up. Of course I think they do that for everyone, but we can pretend that they recognize us and know we are bringing them food.

Linda deserves a huge "thank you" for her deft handling of the 20-pound bag of cracked corn all by herself so I could video. It was funny how the African Goose was going along in front of her as if leading the way. I just love the sounds the ducks make as they proceed to gobble up the corn. The little murmuring sounds they make are just like they are saying "nom nom." And there was one little guy who sounded just like a pig! Quite appropriately, I think. Once the African Goose was front and center he was about all you could hear. He sounds a lot like a donkey! So we had a lot of barnyard noises during our visit. Our goal is to take the birds at Randall Park a bag of cracked corn every month during the winter. That way we know that at least one day out of the month they can eat all they want of some good, healthy food.

LATEST PUZZLE

After doing the "Christmas Cupboard" puzzle, which we finished on January 4th, we decided to take a break and do one that wasn't quite as hard. I picked out this one below, titled "Rallenta" by San Francisco artist Rex Ray (visit his website here). I think this is one of my favorite puzzles, I just love the design and the different shapes and colors. I certainly hope we find more by this artist as I really like his vision. If you visit the website, be sure to click on the "Art" and "Design" tabs to see more of his work. He has done Rock Posters and Book Covers, too. They are all absolutely beautiful! I was saddened to find out that he passed away in 2015 from cancer. But his art lives on.

We had to do this puzzle crosswise the table because it was a couple of inches wider than our card table.

"Rallenta"

LINDA'S NEW "TREE"

One of Linda's Christmas gifts was a small, bamboo bookcase. It turns out it was the perfect size to display her entire Louise Penny collection. Louise Penny (visit her website here) is a Canadian author who has written 15 murder mystery novels about investigator Armand Gamache. We both love her books and are happy to know that she is in the process of finishing up the next book in the series. I guess Linda is going to have to get another bookcase!

The "Louise Penny Tree"

PARTING SHOT

After all the company and excitement that we had over the holidays, Summer Girl was glad to get back into her routine. She even has a contented little smile on her face, as she takes a nap on the big bed.

Back to it

That's all for this week, my friends. Join me again next week for more from the Southerner in the Northwest!

A SIGN FOR HOPE ~~ A MERRY TIME INDEED ~~ PARTING SHOT

A SIGN FOR HOPE

On New Year's morning, Linda and I awoke to a bit of rain here in Yakima. Upon her going outside, she was met with this most beautiful sight directly across from our front porch.

New day, new year

You can just barely see the beginnings of a second rainbow off to the right. It was a most welcome beginning to the new year, hopefully as a sign of good things to come.

A MERRY TIME INDEED

I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas and Santa brought you all kinds of goodies. We had a fantastic time here in Yakima, although it turned out to be a "brown" Christmas instead of a "white" one. We have had very few Christmases here in Yakima that didn't have snow on the ground, so it is kind of unusual. Up until we moved here, I think I maybe saw two white Christmases in the 55 years I lived in North Carolina. It wasn't even very cold this year, and that is also unusual.

On the Monday before Christmas, Emily and Wendy arrived on the Airporter bus from the SeaTac airport. We had set up a puzzle on the card table in the den so we would all have room to sit around it. It turned out to be a great idea as it was there and available whenever someone wanted to spend some time on it. We had a lot of fun working on it even though it was a pretty tough puzzle. This one was yet another of Colin Thompson's puzzles (my favorite ones), titled "The Christmas Cupboard." We weren't able to finish it before our guests went home, but Linda and I managed to get it done on January 4th.

"Christmas Cupboard"

Just getting started

Team effort

Christmas Eve is always a fun time, as this is when we open our stocking gifts. Everyone's stockings were brimming over with gifts this year. I do believe this is the most fun time, because we do it during drinkiepoo hour, so there's that. And sometimes the presents can be quite funny or unusual, as we struggle to find things that only cost a few dollars. This is not any easy task anymore!

Peanut butter, a perennial favorite

A kitchen gadget

Her favorite kind of crackers

Post-It Notes saying
"Do no harm, but take no crap"

As you can see, stocking gifts run the gamut from the mundane (peanut butter) to the sublime (kitchen gadgets!). Here are some of the more unusual gifts this year:

Linda gave me Post-It Notes, and I think
this is my favorite stocking gift of all time

We all got YoYo's that light up
(it's the orange UFO near Emily's face)

The Walking Dead wine
(my new favorite TV obsession)

Christmas morning started out early as usual for Linda and me. I think that is my favorite early morning, on Christmas Day. It's so nice to have all the lights turned on and the fireplace going. Sitting there with a cup of coffee with a kitty on my lap...it just doesn't get any better than that. Summer Girl was mostly outside while we had company because she doesn't like to be inside with people who aren't her everyday peeps. She likes to be able to make a speedy getaway. She did come in a few times, slinking around behind the furniture and hiding under the big bed. But for the most part, she was outside.

Christmas Morning

We had so many presents under and around our little tree that it looked kind of ridiculous. But we love our tree that we bought when we lived on 17th street because it has so many memories attached to it. And it is just the right size for the space we have. We just pile the presents around it on the floor and it works for us!

Before

After

The opening of presents was a sort of controlled chaos, with paper and ribbons flying everywhere. Summer Girl even got into the act by checking out what was in her tiny stocking.

I think we all succeeded, once again, to get everyone things that they really wanted, with a few surprises thrown in. My presents were all spot on because almost all of them were centered around the kitchen and cooking, which, as you know, is my absolute favorite thing. We had a fabulous time with our family, and really, that's the most important thing.

The gang

PARTING SHOT

Summer Girl got a catnip-filled slug in her stocking, and it is her new best friend. After she plays with it, she likes to sit on top of it...as if to say, "This is mine!"

Too much cuteness

That's all for this week, my friends. Next week I will continue on with some nature pictures and video that I took during the blog's hiatus. Be sure to tune in!