I love watching how various animals clean themselves, like this great egret cleaning its feathers by running them through its long beak. One sign an egret has recently been preening is the downy feathers that get stuck to the tip of its beak.
Tag: Washington
Green & White
Beauty in the bark of an old tree in the Hoh Rain Forest.
The Cold Stretch
A shoveler stretches early in the morning as a cold snap finally breaks and the ice covering the frozen ponds slowly begins to melt.
Ripples
Rain ripples the water as a common muskrat feeds in Rest Lake.
Round Two
This Columbian white-tailed deer fawn, nibbling on foliage at head height, is the second generation I’ve seen its mother (out of frame to the right) raise at Ridgefield since she was moved to the refuge a couple of years ago, continuing the recovery of the Lower Columbia River population.
Topographic Map
Part of an old tree trunk, bleached by the sun, one of many that have washed ashore onto Rialto Beach.
The Hills Are Alive With the Sounds of Pikas
Music to my ears.
Dining on Wildflowers
A hoary marmot eats wildflowers on a rainy fall afternoon in Mount Rainier National Park. The pouring rain reduced the crowds on the trails compared to the previous sunny day, but the marmot has to eat rain or shine, for a cool wet afternoon is nothing compared to the brutality of the coming winter that will drive it into hibernation.
Strike While the Iron Is Hot
My first full day in Mount Rainier last year started off with a bit of rain but was sunny and warm most of the day, before it started raining buckets for the rest of my trip. This chipmunk was taking full advantage of the sunshine, and the hikers it brought in numbers, to fatten up for the coming winter by eating the many grasshoppers that people had crushed underfoot on the nearby trails.
A Sense of Scale
Sometimes when looking at my wildlife pictures it’s hard for me to remember how big or small an animal really was without something familiar to provide a sense of scale. I don’t get to see pikas that often so this time, to help me remember their size, I took a picture of one eating a Christmas tree.
Boolie 