deer

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DEER, DEER EVERYWHERE – July 10, 2018

Before I get started I’d like to make a comment on the “White Deer” I posted in yesterday’s blog. Michael, one of my faithful readers from Northeastern Alabama, sent me a great link about “White Deer“. It will tell you everything you never new about “leucism”.

The deer population in Coupeville is getting a little out of hand. We had a large number of new babies this year and they are already starting to grow up. Every morning on my walks around town I see between fifteen and twenty deer. Here are a few examples.

Two lots up from my house they have cleared the land to build a new home. There’s a backhoe there working the land. There’s also three deer inspecting it.

Clearing Lot

They appear to be doing a thorough job of it.

Inspecting Backhoe

The deer love front yards because there’s always good stuff to eat. Here’s one standing in the salad bowl planter at a house up the street.

Deer in Planter

Even the trail thru Krueger Woods was being guarded by a pair. Of course they ran deep into the woods as I approached.

Deer Krueger Trail

There were too many more to take pictures of. Needless to say we have an “infestation”!

Thanks for joining me on this beautiful morning. Come back often and bring your friends.

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MARAUDING DEER – May 22, 2018

During this morning’s walk I counted eighteen deer marauding the neighborhood. This was looking down Perkins Street just as I left my house.

Deer on Perkins

A little further down the road I got up close and personal with this young buck that was just coming into his horns.

Young Buck

To my surprise the tall ship Hawaiian Chieftain was still docked at the Coupeville Wharf. I talked to one of the crew and he said that they’d be leaving Thursday morning around 10:00.

I thought the fog made for an interesting shot of the ship and wharf.

Foggy Tall Ship Wharf

There are still lots of pretty flowers around town and these caught my eye. They are in front of the Whidbey Health Medical Center. We’re lucky to have the hospital that serves the whole island just blocks away from our home.

Whidbey Health Flowers

That was fun, I really enjoyed your company. I’ll see you again soon.

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PARADISE DAY – May 14, 2018

Just another beautiful day in paradise! This morning’s walk was around Coupeville where I always see wonderful things. I hope you enjoy the walk today.

First stop an immature Bald Eagle. It’s not a very good photo but it sure was beautiful sitting high atop that tree.

Inmature Eagle

A little further down Front Street I spotted this great reflection shot of an anchored sailboat resting in Penn Cove.

Sailboat Reflection

This time of year the flowers are blooming and the rhododendrons are everywhere. These are beside the United Methodist Church. The church was built around 1900 after the first one burned to the ground. Here’s the history of our Methodist Church.

Methodist Church and Rhody's

This time of year the deer are having fawns and need a lot to eat, no matter what it takes. I caught this deer pulling down and munching on the leaves of a tree branch.

Deer Eating Tree 1  Deer Eating Tree 2

I hope you enjoyed that little walk, I sure did. I hope to walk with you again real soon!

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CARDOON August 31, 2017

It’s really hard to believe that August is over already but what a fabulous summer we’ve had. I think we are on day 74 with temperatures above 70F and only .02″ of rain. We could use some water!

On my 2.5 mile walk this morning I saw fourteen deer. They seem to be everywhere right here in town. This is a very poor flash picture of a deer going after some low hanging fruit but I just had to share. Talk about a stretch!

Low Hanging Fruit Deer

It was really cloudy this morning but like this photo of Penn Cove and boats with the low tide showing in the foreground.

Cloudy Morning Penn Cove Boats

I’ve taken photos of the Coupeville Wharf with the street lights on before but this morning I just had to take one more!

Coupeville Wharf Street Lights

On the way home this blue flower caught my eye. It’s on a very thick, six to seven foot tall stock and as big as a fist. The blue spikes really stick out. It’s a “Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), just in case you were curious.

Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) Blue Flower

I did a lot better with this flower than I did with the “blueberries” I showed you the other day. Carmen, one of my fellow walkers, pointed out that they really are “Oregon Grapes”. Sorry for the misinformation.

Thanks for walking with me today and now it’s onward to September 2017!

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A DIFFERENT DAY – August 15, 2017

As you’ve seen in my recent blogs we’ve had stellar sunrises. Well today was a different day and with it came different weather. It’s cloudy and we have some fog so like my brother Ron always says: “On a foggy day take foggy photos”. Works for me! Here’s the Coupeville Wharf taken from the end of my street.

Foggy Wharf

There is a beautiful old house that I just love. I believe it’s a bed and breakfast but not sure. I like the bright yellow paint with the white trim, very classy.

Yellow House Before

Well that’s about to change. They are painting it and I have to say, I’m not crazy about their color choice. It’s like a blue/purple/black color. It may be striking when they are done but I think I prefer the yellow.

Yellow House After

It seems like every week there are more and more deer. We saw a doe with two new fawns just yesterday, I believe it might be the second batch this year. Taking care of all those kids must wear them out. Here’s a pair just resting in the tall grass.

Deer Resting

I have a neighbor who’s a retired art teacher and he is always putting up interesting art in his yard and gardens. This one caught my eye this morning with the sunflower in front of it.

Art and Sunflower

And that wraps up Tuesday’s walk. I hope you enjoyed it, I sure do enjoy the company from all of you. Have a great day!

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BOATS DEER BIRD WATER – August 1, 2017

Welcome to August 2017! It’s my favorite month of the year because it’s the middle of summer and the weather is usually fantastic plus it’s my birth month, a memorable moment indeed.

Get your good walking shoes on because we’re going to walk four miles this morning. First stop Ebey Prairie Reserve. In the golden sunrise this farm really popped out. The Olympic Mountains are in the background with just a wee bit of snow near the top.

Barn and Olympics

Then back over to the other side of the island for some boats. I really like this green boat that’s been anchored out in Penn Cove for over a month. What a wonderful place to swing on a hook.

Green Boat in Penn Cove

The tide was way out this morning and the Coupeville Wharf was standing tall. I’m always amazed that there is enough water under the dock for the big sailboats to dock without hitting bottom

Wharf at Low Tide

And last but not least, “Boats Deer Bird Water”! I don’t know what this deer was looking for out there but it went out a ways and looked like it was getting his feet stuck to in the muddy bottom but it got back to shore just fine.

Boats Deer Bird in Water

I hope you enjoyed that little walk and will come back tomorrow. Enjoy the great month ahead.

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SUNRISE SENTINEL – July 18, 2017

Gooooooooood Morning Everyone and what a great morning it is! Get you shoes on and let’s go.

This morning we get to share the sunrise with a Bald Eagle, or rather he’s sharing it with us.

Eagle-Mt Baker-Sunrise

Out on the Coupeville Wharf we had “Pretty Boats All in a Row” with the sunrise and Mt. Baker in the background. Like I said, what a glorious morning.

Boats at Dock-Mt Baker-Sunrise

Walking through town I spotted another new roof on and beautiful old Victorian home. It’s the Lovejoy – Parker House built in 1886.

Lovejoy-Parker House 1886

One of the things I like best about walking around Coupeville are all the different animals I see. Quite often I get to interact with them. Sometimes it seems as though birds are walking with me, they fly ahead, land on a fence, and when I catch up they fly ahead again and wait once again for me to catch up.

This morning it was a deer I was playing with. He was sort of hiding behind a gnarly tree and when I came walking by he’d look at me and when I moved to where he couldn’t see me he’d peek around the tree. I kept moving back and forth and he kept moving to see where I was. It was a great game of Peek-a-Boo.

Peek-a-boo Deer

And that’s a wrap of Tuesday. I hope to have you walk with me again tomorrow.

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ON THE BEACH – July 17, 2017

I don’t know where to start! I shot 96 photos this morning and more than enough came out either really good or quite interesting. I’m not going to overload you with pictures or it would end up like my dad’s slide shows of our vacations 😉

So I’ll show you some today and more on another slow day sometime.

I walked the beach from the end of our street to the Coupeville Wharf, that’s about three-quarters of a mile. I’ll show you the wildlife today and interesting stuff later.

I first stumbled upon a Great Blue Heron and deer. I call this picture “Frank ‘n Deer”.

Frank n Deer

As I got closer the Heron decided it was time to skedaddle and took flight.

Great Blue Heron

Penn Cove is often called the “Mussel Capital of the World” be cause we raise some of the best mussels in the world and they are plentiful, as this picture shows. The rock is covered with barnacles and mussels.

Mussels on the Beach

Mussels also like to cling to pilings. These are the pilings leading to the wharf. It looks like there are a lot of people visiting our wee town by boat. I’ll bet many of the are enjoying our mussels which are served at all the local restaurants.

Beneath the Wharf

On the way back home I spotted this eagle soaring through the sky. What a lovely way to start the day.

Eagle wings up

Thanks for joining me on this beautiful Monday morning. I hope you have a great week ahead and I’ll do the same.

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EBEY RESERVE PRAIRIE – July 11, 2017

This morning’s 4 3/4 mile walk took us out to the Ebey Reserve Prairie again. I just love the prairie in the morning with the fresh cut alfalfa hay, oh how I wish you could smell it!

Here’s a little history I lifted from Wikivoyge: “Three large natural prairies cover over 5000 acres of the Reserve. These prairies formed over 13,000 years ago by the receding glaciers. All are defined by ridges that embrace the rich fertile soils, an especially valuable resource. About one-third of the prairie lands are planted in squash, grains, forage, seed and feed crops. The remainder are a mixture of wetlands, pastures, woodlands, and farmsteads. Together these features form a cohesive character area, one that holds the telling physical remnants of human history-old fence lines, hedgerows, orchards, field patterns, weathered barns, and historic farmhouses.”

Ebey Prairie

Along the way I spotted this old fence post with a plant growing out of the top and the moon above. Nothing special I just kind of liked it.

Fence Post with Plant and Moon

Of course no visit to the prairie would be complete without talking to the “Tin Family”, they are always standing watch over the prairie.

Tin Family

During this mornings walk I counted fourteen deer. Four were fawns and the rest were about half yearlings and half adults.

Four Deer

One of the things I find difficult to photograph are Kingfishers. They fly really fast and don’t stay in one place very long. Well that all changed this morning with this great looking mail box topper.

Steel Kingfisher

And finally, we’ve been watching a show on TV called “Aliens on the Moon”. It’s an interesting show with lots of things pointing to the possibility that they are there. So this morning I took a look and doggone it I didn’t see a single one 😉 But hey, I got a nice photograph!

Waning Moon

Enjoy the rest of your day and thanks for spending a little time walking with me. I hope to see you again tomorrow.

ONE RED APPLE – January 10, 2017
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ONE RED APPLE – January 10, 2017

The radar map this morning was showing possible rain or even snow but I bundled up and weather it. To my surprise the clouds parted and the sun came out. It ended up being a beautiful walk and I hope you enjoy it.

I have been trying to get a photo of this apple tree that’s still loaded with apples. This morning I finally found an angle that worked and to my surprise I spotted “One Red Apple”. It’s not a great photograph but I thought it was kind of cool.

one-red-apple

Along the way I spotted a small herd of deer roaming the neighborhood. We have several small herds like this around town.

herd-of-deer

If you had a big ol’ power meter planted in your front yard how would you disguise it? I’m not sure how successful this effort was but I found it interesting just the same.

power-meter

And just to prove to you that it was a stellar morning here’s that big pile of snow called Mt. Baker just beyond Penn Cove to the northeast.

mt-baker-snow

Thanks for walking with me I enjoyed your company. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.