We’ve got raccoons in the neighborhood … and I think we’ve got one that comes up onto our deck and get water out of the dog’s water dish. (if the dog could learn to drink water with a straw, maybe the water dish could be inside again) The worst, of course is when the dog notices the raccoon on the deck and reacts with manaical barking in the middle of the night. Regardless, the raccoons can pose well and they aren’t as camera shy as many other critters.
This photo was taken from a walkway bridge over a gully, looking straight down to a young big leaf maple. Taken at Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island.
We took a break while on our walk up at Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park on May 3rd. While we were enjoying a snack and the view, we had this raven come in to visit (and/or beg for some of our snacks). Its beak is open, but it wasn’t squawking. I think it was trying to cool off … it was a record warm day (for May 3rd) and I don’t think it was used to the temperature.
These photos were taken from scans of photos that I took back years ago. Fortunately, I had shared prints with a friend and he still had them after my digital files were lost in a change to a new editing/organizing program (after which point I developed a significantly more thorough backup system). The Upper Dungeness Valley is outside of the Olympic National Park in the Buckhorn Wilderness.
Taking advantage of beautiful warm spring weather, we went up to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park. The views were stunning, but comparing the view (above) with a photo from about the same spot back 5 years ago and three weeks later in May shows that we have a very low snowpack this year.
For another view, this time looking down the Elwha River valley. This one is a little more difficult to compare snowfields, because they are similar and both are a long ways away.
