Sunset Boulevard

We get a lot of nice sunsets here in Anacortes.  Here's one from a few days ago that looked like there was a raging fire behind Burrows Island.  Very interesting effect.

The sun is setting behind Burrow's Island.

With the mist hanging over the summit of Burrow's Island, it makes it look like there's a fire behind the island.

The intense colors in this close-up shot are similar to the way it appeared to the eye.

Sun Mountain Lodge

Last week, Betsy and I went for a couple days to Sun Mountain Lodge in Winthrop, WA.  We usually go there in the summer for birding and dragonflying, but had never gone in the Fall.  We're glad we did – the weather was beautiful, and such a nice change from the persistent fog in Puget Sound the last couple of weeks.

Here's the lodge as viewed from out room:

Sun Mountain Lodge from our room.

The Fall colors were more than we had hoped for.  Here are some samples from around the grounds of the Lodge:

Betsy at Sun Mountain Lodge.

Admiring the Fall foliage.

Fall colors everywhere.

Colorful leaves were on the ground and in the trees.

Nice views from the mountains …

… to the Moon.

Here's a view from the Lodge down toward Lake Patterson:

Lake Patterson and the road home.

We also saw some nice birds.  Here are a couple:

A Golden-crowned Kinglet.

A female Hairy Woodpecker.

There were lots of dragonflies, too.  In fact, we saw two different species of darners and six species of meadowhawks.  Here's a photo of two species of meadowhawks sitting side-by-side:

Two male meadowhawks.  On the left a Saffron-winged Meadowhawk, and on the right a Band-winged Meadowhawk.

All in all, a wonderful couple days off to enjoy the Fall.

The Adventure of the Bronzed Cowbird

In Washington State we see Brown-headed Cowbirds, which are nest parasites on other birds.  They lay their eggs in the nests of songbirds and warblers, and their young are then raised by the unsuspecting host birds.  One summer we saw a small Yellow Warbler feeding a cowbird baby that was considerably larger than the warbler itself.

Here in Arizona we also see Bronzed Cowbirds, which don't occur up north.  They look similar at first glance, but the Bronzed Cowbird is a bit larger, has a thick neck, and sports bright red eyes.  Here's one that was outside our kitchen window a few days ago.

A male Bronzed Cowbird at our home in Arizona.

Quite a handsome bird.  I wonder what species of bird raised this guy.

Happy-face Gets A Mug Shot

No, not that kind of mug shot.  The Happy-face Darner can now be found on a coffee mug, as shown below:

The Happy-face coffee mug.

I'm using the mug now on my desk as a pencil holder.  It's fun to see the happy face looking up at me all day.

The Adventure Of The Great Blue Herons

On our way to Mom's house here in Leisure World we walk right past a tree where the herons have a rookery.  There's always a big ruckus going on there as adults fly back and forth to feed their young.  Parts of the tree are "whitewashed" with droppings.

Here are a couple recent photos of an adult feeding its young in the nest.

An adult Great Blue Heron on the nest.  One of the young is visible below the adult.

When the adult interacts with the young it tends to erect its crest, which is normally not so prominent.  In the next photo the young heron is begging to be fed.

A young heron (left) trying to induce the adult to regurgitate food.

Finally, the adult feeds the young, though it certainly looks like a rough way to get a meal.

Ramming the food down the throat is the heron way of feeding its young.

The Whisperer Spoke!

I gave a dragonfly presentation for Maricopa Audubon last night.  Here's an ad for the talk:

We had fun and met a lot of nice people.  The talk was well received.  They treated us to dinner before the talk, and we got back home around 10:30 pm.

Blood Oranges!

Every now and then we pick up a bag of grapefruit that someone has left for others who would like to have them.  Many people here can't have grapefruit because it interferes with some of the medicine they take, so they're happy to give them to someone who can enjoy them.

The other day we picked up a bag of grapefruit, and noticed another bag carefully labeled Blood Oranges.  We were curious, so we decided to give them a try.  We quickly found that they are well named.  Here's a picture of one of the blood oranges sliced open:

A sliced blood orange.

The juice they make is equally sanguine.  Take a look at our morning orange juice, as produced with the blood oranges:

Blood orange juice.  Quite a contrast between the blood orange and the white grapefruit.

Looks like a drink fit for a vampire!  Actually, the taste is almost identical to that of a normal orange, and you might not even notice the difference if you were drinking your orange juice blindfolded.

Apparently, blood oranges are popular in Italy, and are the ones in common usage there.  You might want to keep that in mind if you travel to Italy and order some orange juice.