Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
A Townsend’s chipmunk whips its tail back and forth. I had been watching it for a while and it didn’t seem bothered by my presence, so I didn’t think it was upset with me, but on the other hand I couldn’t see anything in the vicinity that would give it pause. I think it was testing me though, as when I didn’t move it ran down to collect some of the dead grasshoppers around me that had gotten trampled on the trail by hikers earlier in the day.
Massive shapes of ice and snow in the Nisqually Glacier that runs down the side of Mount Rainier.
This cedar waxwing seemed to be playing with a leaf and twig, moving them around with its beak. I had a little too much lens for this one so it’s zoomed in more than I would like, but I didn’t have time to back up, it was only inside the bush for a moment.
In terms of its own health, this tree had seen better days. Partly covered in moss and lichen, its cracked bark was dotted with holes from woodpeckers either seeking insects or creating shelter. But there was still life within this tree, and soon there would be lives within it, as this house wren found a perfectly sized entrance hole into an old cavity where it could make its nest and soon, raise its young.
📷: Canon 7D | Canon 500mm f/4
🗓️: May 31, 2010
Back in March I was photographing Boo resting on the heating vent when we experienced the Trixie Maneuver, where she approached and backed up and sat down right in front of him, anxiously waiting to see if he would attack her. She had been trying these submissive approaches with Boo, mostly unsuccessfully, but while his eyes went wide for a moment, he did allow her to stay, and she leaned over on her side with her feet and tail overlapping his hands.
While it took a couple of months for Boo to accept Trixie, peace does not yet reign among the cats in our household. Boo and Sam have been at odds since Emma died and Trixie arrived, and Sam has had enough of both the young cats. He’s fine if they are on their own but swats them if they try to snuggle with him.
These things take time, and to help normalize relations I’ve been lining the three of them up each day to give them some cat treats, and they all get along fine then. Sam will be a lot happier when he relents, as he’ll love having extra snuggling partners, but for the moment he’s curled up in my lap and happy to be on his own.
Templeton does a little bird watching from one of the rear windows in our old house. That house was much more modern than our current house, one of the things I miss is the many windows and the great views into the backyard. And the air conditioning. And the two-car garage. While we had nice neighbors on either side, in general I much prefer our current neighborhood, and I certainly don’t miss the commute.
A picture from 2001 of our cat Templeton, this picture has been offline since I took my old site down a while back. He was a handsome little fellow in a gray tuxedo coat and would transform my thinking about cats. What a blessing it was to have known him.
The robin is one of the most familiar birds in the United States and I had a fondness for them growing up, partly because they were easy to see in the many trees around our house and partly because they were the state bird of my state at the time, Michigan. I love photographing them but funnily enough don’t see them that often in the places I visit most. This male was feeding on the ground on a rainy winter afternoon at my favorite wildlife refuge and was the last shot I took on the day.
This coyote was hunting along the edge of Rest Lake with another coyote on a winter afternoon. I saw them on multiple occasions, moving about the refuge together, this one had matted fur under its neck and was easy to recognize.
A red-winged blackbird preens his red feathers.
Boolie 