A Wild Life

Earlier this week I heard that someone had seen an Olive-sided flycatcher out at Starrigavan parking lot. I went out there with dad to look for it, but by the time we got out there a hawk had flown over and the Flycatcher had left.

Yesterday dad told me that there was a Brown-headed cowbird by castle hill, so I walked down there and found the Cowbird. I took some photos of it then I headed home to do my paper route.  Once I got home from my paper route I got on line and saw that someone had seen a Flycatcher of some kind up by the transfer station. Dad had gone up there to look for it but did not find it.

This morning I got up and walked around the park then walked up by the transfer station to look for the Flycatcher. When I got up there I saw the person that had observed the Flycatcher the day before. Just then I saw a couple of Flycatcher looking birds fly up and land. I went into the muskeg and walked over towards the person. They told me where the Flycatchers had landed and I took some photos of the Flycatchers. I texted dad and told him that they were up there and continued to take photos of them.  By the time dad got there one had disappeared and I had lost the other. After a few minutes of looking I refound one of them and we watched it and took photos of it for a while. Dad thought it might be an Olive-sided flycatcher while we were watching it, I headed home and checked to confirm that it was an Olive-sided flycatcher. It was indeed an Olive-sided flycatcher. 

This morning I got up and headed to the airport.

I walked down by the channel and looked at the gulls but did not see any that looked unusual so I head to the old airport road.

I walked own the road and looked around I saw fox sparrows, song sparrows and a yellow warbler. I walked around a bit more then went to another spot and saw fox sparrows, song sparrow, orange crowned, wilson and yellow warblers then I headed home.

On the way home I stopped by the lake and saw mallards and a couple of american wigeons. I then headed home through the cemetery.

It rained on and off with I was out.

Today when I went own to the park, it was cloudy.
When I was nearing the park, I saw a Caterpillar on a Fireweed and I went down and got some photos of it.
While I was taking photos of the Caterpillar, I saw a wasp on another Fireweed and I got some photos of it too.
After I was done taking photos, it started to rain again.
When I was in the park, it was less rainy, but it was still wet.
When I was out at the battle site bench, it was low tide and I saw some sea gulls and ravens out on the beach and by the water.
When I was on the side trail near the trail by the river, I saw some more sea gulls out on the beach, along with a great blue heron and some shorebirds.
When I was on the trail by the river, I saw two people fishing from the other side of the river.
When I was on my way back home, I saw a great blue heron, as I walked by it flew off.
Did those people catch any fish?
Why was the wasp on the Fireweed?
Will the Caterpillar still be there when I go by again?

This morning I got up around six and got ready to go for a hike.

Dad, Rowan and I left for herring cove around seven thirty and got there about eight. We hiked up to the lake then went off the trail an started hiking up hill.

It took us about three and a half hours to get to tree line on bear mountain from the start of herring cove trail head. We worked our way up in the alpine. someone had shot a deer so I went over and talked a little bit. We then worked our way up on to the ridge and walked the ridge a bit then  we sat there and ate some lunch. We continued up the ridge and stopped where we could see a couple of lakes. We sat up there for a bit and while we were up there, we saw a flock of rock ptarmigan fly on the other side of the lake. I walked around and got to where I could get some photos of them. I took some photos of them then headed back to where dad and Rowan were. We hung out up there a bit longer then we headed home.

It took us a 11 hours round trip including the time we spent on the mountain looking are, but I enjoyed it.                                                             rock ptarmigan 

Today, we had to get up at 6:30 to get ready in order to leave at 7:30.
Connor set his alarm for 6:00 and it went off twice, which was very annoying because I was trying to sleep. Then later, around 6:30, he went and turned on my light, which was also annoying. I didn’t get out of bed until around 6:45 or so.
We left later then we planed, some time around eight.
Dad drove us out to Herring Cove, and we hiked up to a bench by a lake by Beaver lake.
We took a forest trail that went off the main trail from that bench, and not too far along that trail, I slipped and fell on my butt. I slipped about eight more times total after that. I also tripped and got scratched sometimes as well.
On the way up, a guy that was going hunting passed us, just after we saw a deer. Later we heard a gunshot, and sometime after we got out of the trees, we saw the guy was taking the bones out of the deer he’d shot.
Eventually, when we were out of the trees and sort of on the top, dad told me that we were on Bear Mountain.
We hiked for a while longer, I would take breaks.
I felt a bit better after I ate lunch, which was good.
Though, while we were eating lunch, it got cloudy and windy. Later it also started raining a little bit and continued on and off until we were back in the trees.
After lunch we wandered around for awhile.
While we were wandering, we saw two lakes that the snow was melting into. We stopped on a ridge near one of the lakes.
Not too long before we left, dad spotted some ptarmigan flying. We saw where they landed and Connor ran down to get some photos of them.
I almost liked coming up the mountain better than coming down because it was really steep on some parts.
I was glad when we made it back to the car.
Why was it raining up where we were, but not in town?
Where were the ptarmigan flying from?
Why was there still snow up on the mountain?

When I went down to the park this morning, it was sort of sunny but I wore my rain coat anyways and later I saw glad I did.
When I was by the science center where they caught the fish, I saw some salmon had gotten loose into a stream that went underneath the science center, but there was a block keeping the salmon out from underneath the science center.
When I was at the battle sight bench, it was low tide and I saw some sea gulls out on the beach.
When I was on the trail by the river, there were salmon in the river, and some sea gulls and shorebirds on the other side of the river.
When I was halfway to the end of the trail by the river, I saw that it had started raining so I put up my hood and was glad I did, because a minute or two later it started raining really hard.
When I got to the end of the park, it had stopped raining so I took off my hood. I was already pretty wet though.
When I was on my way back home, I saw a juvenile bald eagle flying around, and I saw some ravens and crows on sage beach.
Why did it start raining so hard so fast?
Why were the salmon in the stream?
Why were the crows and ravens on the beach?

This morning I got up and left to go to the airport. It had been raining quite hard earlier in the morning, but it was just cloudy when I left, but I dressed like it might rain hard again anyways.

I walked over the bridge and when I was cross the road from sealing cove parking lot I saw a least sandpiper. I then walked down old airport road and looked at the warblers and other birds along there, but most of them were warblers. After I was done there I walked back across the bridge and headed up to the lake. Part of the road was being worked on the went to the lake, so I ha to go a less direct way to get there. Once I got there I saw a lot of mallards, a green winged teal and a spotted sandpiper. I looked around a bit then I headed home.

Over the weekend dad, Rowan and I went down to Idaho for a few days to see the full eclipse that was passing over the US on Monday. We went down on Friday and spent the weekend on the farm. Then early Monday morning we headed for Midvale from Nampa. It took us a couple of hours to get there, but we were there about seven or eight in the morning. We headed a few miles outside of Midvale to a friends farm.

We hung around and waited for the eclipse to start. Once the eclipse started it took it a little while before I started to know tis that it was getting darker out, but was it got darker I was able to see a planet. Once the sun was completely covered it looked like the sun was rising all around us, and it got quite a bit cooler out there too. Once totality was over it started to get brighter and it started to get warmer out there too. By the time the eclipse was over it was very hot out there.

On our way back to Nampa we stopped at a rest area and I saw a giant cricket, it had to be at least three or four inches long.                                               Before totality                                                           Dearing totality                                                 As it was getting darker                                                                  Giant cricket

This morning I got up, got ready and left the house.

There was a little rain and it was kind of windy, but not bad.

I walked over the bridge to the airport. On my way to the airport, I went down and looked at the gulls in the channel. I did not see any unusual looking gulls, so I head towards old airport road.

I walked by a construction site and got back on the main road. I walked along the main road to the airport until I got to where the old road met the new one. I walked down the old road and looked around. I saw some orange crowned and yellow warblers, along with some fox, song and lincoln’s sparrows too.

After I had looked around the old road, I walked back to the main road and went to check another place. I looked around and saw some yellow, wilson’s and orange crowned warblers, along with lincoln’s, and song sparrows. I looked around a bit more, then walked back to the main road and headed for home.

On my way home I stopped by the channel again, but did not see any unusual looking gulls, so I headed home.

Today when I went down to the park, it was cloudy and it was raining a little bit.
When I was out on the breakwater, I saw a sea gull and the cruise ship. I also saw the salmon and it looked like there was a lot of them.
When I was nearing the park, I saw a flicker fly away while I was walking.
When I was at the battle site bench, there was a slight breeze and it was low tide. While I was there, I saw some sea gulls and ravens. I also heard some shorebirds, but I wasn’t able to see them.
When I was on the side trail near the trail by the river, I saw two eagles out by the river.
When I was on the trail by the river, I saw a bunch of salmon in the river and I heard a song sparrow in the grass on the other side of the river.
When I was on my way back home, I saw a spotted sandpiper on sage rock and I also saw a great blue heron on sage rock, they both flew away when I was watching them.
Where were the shorebirds?
Why was it raining?
Where did the spotted sandpiper go?