AROUND THE YARD: February Snow!

This past weekend the most beautiful snowstorm hit the Pacific Northwest. It approached slowly, with no attendant winds, no wet gloppy flakes, no power outages, no trees down. Nope. Just soft, dry, slow-falling snowflakes. Slow, but constant. And we awoke to pristine, footprint-free, acres of snow. Well, there were a few footprints where a couple of deer had walked through, but that just added to the charm.

Low temperatures froze the water in the rain chain. I stood warm and dry on the front porch and simply admired the view.

Looking out the back windows, there was nothing but beautiful trees (and a few rhododendrons), all covered with snow. So pretty.

And then I focused on just two tree trunks, one seemingly wearing a snowy skirt, for sheer simplicity.

All photos shot with a cellphone.

©Copyright 2021 Carol Leigh

 

Around the yard . . .

It's been a particularly good year for seeing pileated woodpeckers (actually, perhaps in part because we installed a suet feeder on the back deck -- duh!) and they are still around! (I took this photo the first week of August.)

The birds are pretty big, with a wingspan of slightly less than 3 feet. But they're relatively small when compared with a raven (4.9 feet) or a bald eagle (7.5 feet).

The juveniles (like the one on the left) wait impatiently to be fed and, while waiting, pound their beaks (bills?) on the wooden railing, chipping off chunks (giant splinters) on the back side. 

Nature. Gotta love it.

Image ©Carol Leigh, 2020
 

Around the yard . . . A cavorting deer!

These are terrible photos in that they're out of focus, not sharp. I was shooting through a dirty window at an animal that was at a distance. BUT THE EXPERIENCE WAS SO COOL!

I am walking past the living room window when I see the white buck. I pick up the camera that's sitting nearby, pre-set to f/5, ISO 800, underexposed by 2/3 stop. I take a few shots . . . am getting ready to change my settings when all of a sudden this guy has a major testosterone surge and begins zooming around, jumping into the air, suddenly stopping, posing, then kicking up his heels. (There's a doe in the middle of some bushes just out of frame to the left, which I believe is what instigated this adolescent behavior.)

As quickly as his cavorting begins, it's over.

And while he goes off to have a cigarette, I take a look at my shots and my heart sinks at their softness.

A white deer to me is exciting. And then to have a white deer do all THIS is bananas. So of course I had to share it with you even though it is far from my best work. I apologize. But the deer was cavorting! Hoo ha! ©2020 Carol Leigh

Around the yard -- downy woodpecker

A little downy woodpecker waiting his turn at the suet feeder. What you DON’T see is him slowly sliding down the slick metal shepherd’s hook. Woodpecker toes just aren’t made for clinging to slippery metal things!

©2020 Carol Leigh

Not one, but TWO white deer . . .

Five days ago, "our" white deer (born May 2019, attacked by coyote -- probably -- mid-July 2019) visited our property. You can see the scar there on his right haunch (and when's the last time you used the word "haunch?") which in this picture doesn't look like it's totally healed. Bad lighting, so you can't see it as well as you might.

He's also noticeably a guy -- see the nubbins where antlers will eventually emerge?

He wasn't accompanied by Mom this visit, which is unusual. I try to read nothing into it.

And then this morning, in MUCH better light, we see a different white deer, this one with lovely velvety antlers.

And do you see how overcast light works much better than bright, harsh sunlight for photos? (Not always, but at least a LOT of the time...)

So this is today's wildlife report. All photographed from the dining room window using a 35mm DSLR (with a cropped sensor) and a 70-200mm lens.

Copyright ©2020 Carol Leigh

Around the yard . . . newly-hatched juncos

We have newly-hatched juncos now in the nest just outside the front door. Three eggs were laid; now there are three chicks, just three days old.

Sorry for such a terrible photo. Taken with the iPhone in great haste, not wanting to disturb the parents too much. Better ones to follow . . . I hope!

©2020 Carol Leigh

Self-isolating at home . . .

Around the yard . . .

Here on Whidbey we're pretty isolated in a rural area, so we don't have the same concerns a lot of other people do about keeping our distance. I can take a walk up and down the road without (usually) meeting a soul.

We (again because of our remoteness and the unpredictable weather) have always made sure we're pretty much stocked up with the necessities and so we haven't had to make our way through any grocery stores for the past month.

What we're really missing is physically visiting people, televised pro/college basketball, and eating out in restaurants.

First world problems, right?! Oh, poor us!

The good thing is that my art studio is right here, so I can continue making things. And I can always find something to photograph in our yard and/or up and down the road. So that's what I'm doing.

This winter a number of alder trees fell over, making it easy for me to just see what's on the ground and shoot the bark (top photo).

Hellebores are the first flowers to appear in late winter and deer don't eat 'em, so that's what you're seeing in the second photo.

And then this species of Usnea lichen festoons a lot of the trees. The lichens look very pale green and lacy against a more solid background.

(Each photo taken with an iPhone.)

My heart goes out to all the small businesses we have on Whidbey who have had to close, with employers and employees wondering when will things go back to "normal."

And my thanks go to all the health care workers who are also in a sort of limbo, wondering when a tidal wave of sick people is going to hit all the medical facilities. Or not. Hopefully not.

So we do our part to live an isolated existence, stay clean and healthy, and wish for an early end to all this. We have 16 currently confirmed with the coronavirus in Island County (Whidbey Island and Camano Island), and no deaths.

Wishing you all health, peace, love, and happiness.

Copyright ©2020 Carol Leigh

The white fawn story...with a happy ending

During the first week in May this year, a white fawn was born on or next to our property. We saw him all wobbly, trying to follow mom across our driveway. Here’s a link to that blog post: https://carolleigh.blogspot.com/2019/05/a-white-fawn-in-woods.html

The next time we saw him was July 18 and he had a very large wound on his right hindquarter. We figured maybe a coyote got to him. We worried.

Then on September 12, we saw that his wound was healing quite nicely. And finally, on October 7, it looked as though the wound had healed and he had no problem getting around.

I can tell by the pedicles appearing on his head that he is indeed a he. It’s going to be fun to watch him grow. Great story, no?

©2019 Carol Leigh

Around the yard: a white deer!

The big deal around here a couple days ago was the appearance of a white deer (and his buddy).

This isn't the same white deer we saw right after it was born May 6. Nope, I've been told this guy is a yearling, born in the spring of 2018.

Amazing to think that in the space of just a couple of months, we have had two white deer appear on our property.

So mystically wonderful, no?

All images copyright ©Carol Leigh 2019.

Around the yard . . . hosta leaves

The hostas are using all their energy right now for creating flowers, so the leaves are changing shape and form, drying out and curling up, giving their all to the showy flowers.

It's a fascinating process, and one I've not paid any attention to in the past. What a dope! These leaves are great.

The first picture was shot on a dry day. A few days later it had rained in the night, and the morning light and the raindrops combined to make what I think are extremely pretty images.

These three were taken with an iPhone, but I'm continuing with this "hosta project" also using a digital SLR.

Soon the novelty will probably fade, along with the leaves. But for now? This is fun stuff!

Images copyright ©Carol Leigh 2019.

Around the yard . . .

It's May, which means the lawn grows about 3" a day, and we are way behind. So this morning I was out there raking up lawn trimmings and I came upon a whole bunch of dead daylily stems I'd taken out a couple weeks ago.

As I gathered them up, I noticed a spiral form that looked sort of like a snail shell. I separated out the strand, looked closer, and saw that it was the outside of a wasp nest, sort of like a little umbrella.

On the other side were just a few little wasp "cubicles," each one with an egg inside. Cool!

I brought it inside and, in the first photo, shot it using the iPhone 8+. I like the curve of the daylily stem and I like the color of the light.

The second photo was shot with a full-frame Canon DSLR and a 100mm macro lens. I don't like the color very much, but didn't want to re-do it just for this blog. It's easier to see the individual eggs in this image.

As I enlarged each picture in the computer, it became obvious that although the iPhone does a good job, the eggs and their cubicles all had a sort of mushy look up close, whereas the DSLR image remained sharp as I enlarged it.

These are wasps. We already have plenty. Our yard doesn't need five or so more. What to do with them now? Well, I put the entire stem and the nest inside a clear jar. Some of the stem stuck out the top. So I put aluminum foil over the jar opening and wrapped it around the stem. If the eggs hatch, the wasps won't be able to chew through the aluminum foil (as they would paper). I don't believe the eggs will hatch, but if they do, they won't get out and buzz around my studio.

If anything interesting happens, I'll let you know . . . but don't hold your breath.

By the way, this is my personal blog, to see what I'm doing on a professional level, check out my pro blog at https://carolleighart.blogspot.com.

A white fawn in the woods . . .

Just the coolest thing! Chris spotted this newly-born white fawn and his mom, quickly called me upstairs, where I photographed them through a dirty window, using an iPhone camera, zoomed all the way out. In other words, horrible photos, but we do what we can with whatever we've got.

Mom was licking the baby, who was having a tough time just standing upright. Mom then moved down the driveway, much to the fawn's dismay.

The fawn had a tough time stepping up 2.5" onto the driveway, but quickly adapted and soon was gone from sight, following mom.

We haven't seen them again this morning, but we have high hopes.

I've been told that these "piebald" fawns are the result of overpopulation, and because of their light color, are vulnerable to predators. Probably nature's way of "thinning the herd."

Their only predators on-island are vehicles. Alas.

Copyright @Carol Leigh.

Rabbits, hawks, and deer . . .

When Abby goes on "alert," we pay attention. What do her cat ears hear that ours don't?

It was late afternoon a couple days ago when she suddenly sat up, listening, and so I went to the windows to see five (five!) Columbia black-tailed deer chasing each other around the yard, kicking up their heels, jumping (straight up), leaping, zooming out of sight and then zooming back.

And it's not like they were fawns -- maybe teenagers, young adults. And it went on for a couple of minutes. Just the most entertaining, fun, crazy thing to see.

Then yesterday afternoon, I saw a large-ish bird fly across the yard -- fast -- and disappear behind some rhododendron bushes. Simultaneous with his landing, a cottontail rabbit zoomed from the rhody bush and disappeared into deeper brush nearby. The hawk flew to a tree branch, shook out his feathers, and then flew off -- empty talon-ed.

Bunny 1
Hawk 0

Works for me.

Happy Easter. Happy spring. Happiness all 'round!

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

Still snowing . . .

It seems as if it's been snowing for weeks! And there is more to come.

We're sort of stuck at home because there's only one way out on our road, and there's a big "dip" in the middle where you run the risk of sliding down into the dip and then not having enough traction to go up the other side and off to civilization.

There's only one snow removal truck on the island (rarely does snow linger here) and it concentrates mainly on the highway and in more populated areas. We will never see it. And so we do what we can and simply wait for our road to thaw.

Luckily there have been no power outages so far, no wind -- just a light, fluffy accumulation of snow. And it's magical.

This is a panorama shot from the deck, taken with an iPhone, showing what our back yard looks like.

Like I said . . . magical.

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

It's snowing!

This is what I wrote yesterday when I posted this picture to Facebook: "It’s snowing, and I feel like a 6-year-old kid! Love how this tree in our front yard looks."

Looks like we got a few inches more in the night, but it's too dark right now to really see. The morning temperature is 21 degrees. Yikes!

We have heat, food, electricity, and nowhere we have to be. So grateful for this life.

(iPhone photo.)

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

Daily Photo 20190111 Yard debris mandala

I'm taking an online class where the first assignment is to make a mandala. I'm waiting for certain supplies to arrive before I begin making mine, but in the meantime . . .

I have mandalas on my brain.

I walked around the yard this morning. We've had some pretty strong winds, so there's debris on the ground -- leaves, twigs, branches, pine cones, lichens, etc.

Hmmm . . . mandalas . . . I began gathering bits and pieces, organizing them on the ground, including a couple of little mushrooms that had popped up out of the moss.

It's more like a wreath than a mandala, methinks, so I'm going to try making some more. Fair warning! You're gonna see more of this stuff!

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

Around the yard . . .

It's been a very mild fall here on Whidbey Island. Leaves are now completely fallen from our mountain ash tree. They're lovely and very delicate. As I pick up one of these stems, the individual leaves gently fall away. I managed to get one intact, pressed it, and am now working on incorporating it into a photomontage.

One foggy morning, the pines looked good against a lighter, brighter background. Delicate, lacy branches contrasting with the strong, sturdy tree trunk.

This tree in the side yard -- one I have failed to identify so far -- turned a bright yellow, and stayed like that for a fair amount of time. Last year heavy rains hit, the leaves turned brown, and became a sludgy pile on the ground, practically overnight.

And it's mushroom-o'rama right now, as they spring up everywhere. The cellphone, turned upside-down, enables me to shoot from a bug's-eye view.

Fall -- my favorite season of the year -- offers so much on so many levels, as nature slows down, sloughs off the unnecessary, and quietly gathers within itself to eventually burst out again, reaching its stride in May. Ain't it wonderful?

All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh. Thank you for your understanding and kindness.

Around the yard . . .

Looking out the living room window to the back yard, I'm seeing three Columbian black-tailed deer, enjoying the grass. Actually, they seem to particularly like the dandelion "bases" or "pads" in the grass, keeping them closely cropped, so that although yes, there are dandelions, we rarely see them actually produce flowers and puffs. The three rabbits out there do the same thing. Nice.

That's Antler Boy on the right, Doe-Doe in front, and Dody-Doe back left. Doe-Doe is attracted to Antler Boy, but Dody-Doe won't let her get near him, so next we see Doe-Doe relegated to the front yard, where she mends her broken heart by keeping the fuchsia bushes trimmed.

Do we have a problem with deer/rabbits eating our plants? Not this year. Last year they ate a LOT of the big hydrangea bush out front, and totally decimated the hostas next to the house in back. We have since discovered a product called "Liquid Fence," a foul-smelling concoction that we spray on the plants we want to protect. Deer/rabbits don't like the smell and keep their distance. We can't smell it within minutes of applying the spray, so it's a win-win product.

So this is what it looks like around here at the moment -- deer, rabbits, a lone raccoon the other day, three pairs of California quail, a family of at least two or three juvenile ravens who make a huge ruckus begging to be fed, towhees, juncos, lots of robins, a few Steller jays, nuthatches, brown creepers, northern flickers, a pair of pileated woodpeckers with one youngster, and (to the robins' dismay) occasional barred owls and great horned owls. It's a veritable jungle, and we are loving it.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

Around the yard

It was a cool, misty morning and so I wandered around the yard to see what I could find. I think we're going to have bright sunshine soon, and I always want to take advantage of morning magical overcast light.

This is my favorite tree in the yard. I don't know what it is. I don't think it will flower. But in the fall it turns a bright yellow. I have two handmade "things" hanging from it, which can only be seen in the winter. You stand underneath the tree, and you feel as if you're in a fort. Makes me feel like a kid. All those branches hanging down low and enclosing me.

Around the back are three flavors of hosta, which are flourishing. Deer and rabbits both like to nibble on them, but we've found something called "Deer Fence," which we spray on these and some other plants and (gasp!), the deer and bunnies keep their distance.

Thinking at first they were weeds, and almost yanking them out, turns out foxgloves have sprung up here and there around the yard. Lovely tall spires of flowers. The bumblebees love them, and it's fun to see them fly into an individual flower, and watch the flower vibrate with their activity.

And then finally a photo of the buoys we've attached to a post. We couldn't leave the Oregon coast without bringing a little bit of it with us.

©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.

Around the yard

Early this morning there was a soft mist falling. I was struck by how lusciously green everything looked, so took the cellphone out and wandered around the yard.

No breeze. No lawn mowers. Just the pileated woodpecker, who has been desperately drumming on trees in his quest to find a mate for the past EIGHT days.

It was all so beautifully lighted, so perfect, so peaceful, so tranquil.

This is what I love about the Pacific Northwest. I grumble about the wasps, the pollen, the tree debris, the amount of work required to keep things tidy (mainly because I kind of enjoy grumbling), but mornings like this make everything so worthwhile.

All together now ... ommmmmmmmmm.

 ©Carol Leigh
All text, photographs, and other media are ©Copyright Carol Leigh (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from Carol Leigh.