I mostly like grouse. I get a little bit annoyed with them when they fly up into my face to chase me away from their young. If they weren’t so well camouflaged, maybe I would see them and wouldn’t get startled so much. Anyway, enjoy these photos …
I found these two praying mantises at the Mima Mound Nature Area south of Olympia, Washington. I’m not an expert on insects so can’t say if these are both the same species or etc. But they are interesting little critters. They are cannabalistic, though.
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.
