Boolie

Mammals vs. Dinosaurs

I’ve met people who think it preposterous that birds descended from dinosaurs, a theory that dates back to the 19th century and the discovery of an Archaeopteryx fossil, as they think of birds as being small and cheerful. They might change their minds if they spent some time watching an egret hunt for voles.

As I’ve photographed birds over the years I was struck by how many of the feathers on a bird’s body aren’t actually used for flight. I began to wonder which came first, feathers for flight or feathers in general? This article by Luis Chiappe on dinosaurs and birds gives the answer (spoiler alert: it’s not flight). I’ve only started reading the article but it’s written in plain language and has a lot of information (and importantly, references) on the link between dinosaurs and birds, and how most paleontologists believe that some dinosaur species survived and evolved into the birds we know and love today.

I suppose it’s all splitting hairs to this vole, within seconds of being swallowed on a rainy January afternoon. I sometimes shoot hunting egrets and herons and bitterns with my biggest lens, to show that one life is ending in order for another to continue, and sadly I’ve only ever been able to photograph these voles in the last seconds of their short lives. I keep hoping one day to get a photograph of a vole just sitting in a meadow but for some reason they don’t stay above ground very long.

Aubergine

I ordered Tom Bihn’s Aeronaut 45 in December with an Aubergine exterior and Wasabi interior. I was hoping to first use it on a trip to the Hoh Rain Forest, as I’m determined to finally visit when it’s actually raining, but life intervened. I’m still hoping to get up there this spring, but in the meantime I took a macro shot of the ballistic nylon fabric.

Ring Ripples

A male ring-necked duck relaxes on a winter morning as raindrops create ripples in the water. Taken on the last day of an almost three week vacation over the Christmas break. I made a note in my journal about how much I enjoyed watching him before he swam off when more cars arrived, as Emma’s health was worrisome and the refuge was a nice distraction while my wife was home with Emma. Emma died a few days later and I wasn’t in the mood to edit the pictures from this trip (particularly an egret picture I’ll post later), but it is easier now with a little more distance.

Face Time

I got up from the couch and had to move Sam, who had been sleeping on my lap. When I came back I sat down beside him as I planned to go to bed soon. But then Boo jumped up and curled up beside me, and given how stressed he had been about Trixie’s arrival, I decided to stay up longer and give him some attention. He was showing signs of accepting her but he was still pretty stressed out about her.

Later as he slept curled up in a ball beside my legs, Trixie jumped up onto my lap. This woke Boo and I thought he’d get up and leave, but instead he stayed, trying to determine what to do, so I stroked his back and he fell back asleep. I got Trixie to lay down on my stomach but then she eased over so that her feet were up against his body, and I was surprised to see that not only did he not hiss at her, he tolerated it without incident.

So she moved a little closer. And then a little closer. She was now partially sitting on top of him, but still Boo showed no reaction. Trixie then eased completely off of me so that she was sitting on top of him, and I was stunned to see that this too he tolerated.

A little too emboldened, she leaned over and smushed her face directly into his. This I knew would be a bridge too far, yet Boo didn’t budge. Given the landmark moment I decided to forgo sleep for a while longer and let them bond, though I kept falling asleep sitting up. Hours later, with Trixie still atop Boo, I relented and went to bed for a little sleep.

They’ve been getting along ever since.

The Blackbird

I didn’t leave the house for the first few days after Emma died, apart from taking Ellie on her walks, but by the fourth day I decided to head up to Ridgefield for a little bit. I made a note in my journal when I got there that my heart wasn’t in it and I didn’t know if I’d stay more than a few minutes, but spending some time with this blackbird lifted my spirits and I stayed for several hours. I stopped at South Quigley Lake when I saw him sitting on a cattail that was taller than all the others around it, as it gave me a lovely view of a lovely bird. I didn’t expect him to stay long, they are often flitting to and fro in the marsh, but he stayed there for a long while, preening and stretching and occasionally singing.

I’m well aware that some of my favorite creatures eat some of my favorite creatures in order to survive, I spent much of the Christmas break watching herons and egrets and bitterns eat all manner of small creatures near the shoreline, but I was reeling from Emma’s death and not in the mood to see something die. I deliberately avoided watching those predators on this visit but I was reminded of how often life and death are on display at the refuge when the blackbird suddenly leaned down and plucked an insect from the cattail. He has it pinned to the roof of his mouth with his tongue, headfirst, and is about to swallow it.

The auto tour takes a sharp left turn after you pass South Quigley Lake and you can see a blue car right behind the blackbird in this photo. There was less traffic though than I expected and so for the most part it was a peaceful afternoon, just what I wanted. While watching the blackbird a couple of times I spotted a Virginia rail darting through the cattails, and later I saw a doe and fawn of the Columbian white-tailed deer that were transplanted to the refuge (the doe was transplanted, the fawn was born at the refuge). It was nice to see sandhill cranes and a river otter too.

Soon thereafter Sam would get sick, and then some of the other pets, and then we got Trixie, and I’ve been busy enough and tired enough that I haven’t gone back out since. Now that Trixie is all settled in, I’ll be returning to the refuge before too long.

I’m Flying, I’m Flying!

Almost, little one, almost.

One of My Favorite Pictures of Em

It pains me to think of all the old blog posts that are offline because I love going back and reading the stories, especially of the pets. I have thought of a way I could bring them back, probably should have done it a year ago, but it would cost a little bit of money and time, not sure if I’ll do it. In the meantime I was re-editing this picture of Emma after she knocked over the Christmas tree so that I could put the original post back online and laughed out loud when I read the story, I remembered most of it but had forgotten that as I was trying to get the tree upright, she jumped back into it.

The picture seems to suggest a pride in her handiwork, but that wasn’t Emma, she was walking over to greet me as she often did when I tried to take her picture. She wasn’t a mischievous cat, she just loved that tree. Sometimes too much.

Miss you Em.

Boo Turns a Corner

Our sensitive little Boo turned out to be the biggest obstacle to Trixie’s introduction. He didn’t stalk her the way Emma stalked him, but he did hiss at her if she came close and was just generally out of sorts. He’d follow Sam at times to try and engage him to play, and even when Sam made it clear he didn’t want to, Boo wouldn’t relent and a quarrel would follow. He’s made a lot of progress the past couple of weeks and no longer hisses at Trixie and at times is quite tolerant of her.

He’s not ready to play with Trixie yet, but hopefully that will change with time. I’ve been able to get him to play at the same time as her, so that’s a start. He’s a sweet little fellow, I’m not too worried, it’s just the stresses of the past few months have been a bit hard on him and Sam.

At Last, Some Rest

I started off the year pretty worn out after Emma’s long decline, and it only got worse after she died and then Sam got sick. Then it was Boo’s turn and even Ellie gave us a scare when a test suggested she had an infection but it turned out to be a false positive. Then we adopted little Trixie and started her slow introduction to the household and even she got sick. And just when it seemed everyone was over all their health issues big and small, one night Ellie wanted to cut her walk short, so we came home early and she walked straight into my office and barfed all over the place. Turned out not be serious, but let’s just say after a few months of chaos we’re exhausted.

There is some good news however as we head towards our new normal. The other cats have accepted Trixie and she’s spent the last two weeks with free run of the house. Though it will be a while before they are truly comfortable with one another, there is progress as shown by Trixie and Sam sleeping on my legs. We’ve gone an entire week without anyone getting sick in big or small ways, and we’re finally getting a good night’s sleep.

Or mostly anyways. Thursday night all three cats joined me in bed but Trixie was in the mood to play so we didn’t get much sleep until she was ready to snuggle up. I love it when she snuggles up to my face, usually she just rubs her face on mine in the most adorable way, but occasionally she can’t resist nipping at your nose. You just never know what you’re going to get, though thankfully the nose bites are getting further and farther between.

We also replaced both mattresses a week ago. We got our mattress when we got married so it was over sixteen years old and due for a replacement. We tested out a bunch, unfortunately the one I liked best was on the expensive side, but so far I’ve slept well on it. We discovered how tortuous the mattress in the guest bedroom was when we stayed with Trixie when she was isolated in there, so we replaced it as well, although with a more basic model.

All of which means that, better rested, I no longer feel as though I’m about to lose my mind. And I shouldn’t fall asleep immediately after dinner, so blogging should return to normal too.

Trixie Wins Her Freedom

This weekend we finally gave Trixie free reign of the house. She joined me in bed last night and is asleep in my lap at the moment. This picture is from a week ago when we were giving her limited time outside the guest room, you can see in her wide eyes that she was a little too hopped up to be let loose on the other cats full time. That’s Sam beside me on the stairs, trying to decide just what to make of his new little sister.