deer

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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.

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TREE AND TWO HOMES – May 19, 2016

Well look at this, I’m back for a second day in a row!

It always amazes me to see things that I’ve walked by a hundred times and never noticed. Sometimes the morning light changes things enough to bring out those hidden gems.

This morning I noticed this beautiful, gnarly, old tree in font of the historic Williams House built in 1896. It now houses the Whidbey Island Conservation District office.

1896-William's-House

Here’s a closeup of the tree in the golden morning light.

Tree

Walking down Main Street I spotted this beautiful Victorian house with the blossoming rhododendron out front. It’s the Coupe-Gillespie House built in 1891. Today it’s the Blue Goose Inn.

1891-Clapp-Gillespie-House

And this just in; Marilyn took this photo of brand new fawns in our neighbors yard while I was typing. We believe that they were born in the last two days. The mother sure does seem to be bonding with her baby.

Fawns

Thanks for joining me on this morning’s walk and hopefully we’ll do it again tomorrow.

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KOALA BEAR DEER – January 8, 2016

Wow, what a busy week. I’ve been off island more than I’ve been on island this week, hence no blogs 😦

I did get a walk in this morning but it was really too dark for any good photographs. But all is not lost.

My wife, Marilyn, took some pictures of these cute little deer in our front yard. The young ones have their winter fur and winter fat on and now look a lot like koala bears. Do you agree?

Deer

Fawn

You just want to run out and pet or feed them but we know better. We just let them graze on our lawn and all the beautiful plants that Marilyn grows each year.

Have a great weekend and I’ll try to find some Coupeville Impressions next week.

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RACCOON AND FAWN – June 22, 2015

I trust you all had a nice Father’s Day Solstice weekend. Our weather was perfect and I’m sure many picnic baskets were emptied.

This morning I walked three and a half miles and as usual found some things from around Coupeville to share.

First I noticed this raccoon and as I was getting my camera turned on and positioned it started running at me! I snapped this photo and then looked out from behind the camera and it was gone. It just disappeared into thin air. But then I noticed the culvert running under a driveway and that’s where it disappeared.

06-22-15-raccoon

Just up the road from the raccoon was a family of deer with this tiny fawn posing nicely for me. I just love this time of year when all the babies are out and about.

06-22-15-fawn

One thing we seem to have plenty of are sitting places to enjoy the wonderful views of Penn Cove. This sitting spot is in front of a house just up the road from us. They have a great view and what a fabulous place to sit watch the sun go down.

06-22-15-bench

Out on Ebey Prairie I couldn’t resist taking another photo of this old Allis and Chalmers tractor that’s been retired to the front yard of Sherman’s Pioneer Farm Produce. It’s being swallowed by a rose bush but you can still envision it plowing the fields out on the prairie, back in “the day”.

06-22-15-Allis-Chalmers

With that we start a new week. I hope it’s good for you as I’m sure it will be great for me 🙂