A Wild Life

Today when I was doing my part of the paper rout, it was rainy and the ground was slippery. When I was at the bottom of the hill leading to the last house, I saw a bird land in the snow. It stayed there for a moment, and I realized it was an owl. Then it flew up into a nearby tree and I walked over slowly to the tree. It was on a lower branch. I started trying to get as close to it as a could. I walked slowly when it wasn’t looking at me, and stopped when it turned its head my way. I think it was a Western screech owl. Before it flew, I got close enough to reach out and touch it. It flew a bit after I had stepped on a stick,I think it jumped when I stepped on the stick, and it flew into a nearby tree on a higher branch, I watched it there for a moment, and then went the rest of the way up the hill to deliver to my last house. When I was on my way back down the hill, I didn’t see the owl were I had last seen it, but when I got farther down, I saw on the same branch as a had first seen it on but a bit farther out. I got close enough to touch it again by doing the some thing as I had before. When it flew that time, I could feel the wind from it’s wings as it flew over my head and into the tree which I guessed was the one it had come from when it landed in the snow. I slowly walked across the road to get to the tree it was in. The road was slippery enough that I slid down a bit. Luckily I didn’t fall. When I got across, I looked to see if I could find where it landed, but I didn’t. After I looked for where it landed, I watched it in the tree. As I watched, it poofed out it’s feathers and then a few seconds later, it shook itself to shake off the water, and I few minuets after that it flew off around a corner and I didn’t see it again so I walked home.
Why did the owl land in the snow?
Why didn’t it fly off when I was creeping closer to it?
Why did it have to be so slippery? I fell twice before I made it to where the owl was.

This after noon we went down to the harbor to got on a friends boat and go look at a spotted towhee that was coming to a persons feeder that lives out on an island. Dad and I went down to the harbor to wait for a boat. While I was down at the harbor waiting I saw where they had pushed snow off over the edge and in to the harbor and the snow was starting to pile up. After we wait for a  little bit the boat came and picked us up. On our way to the island we it a tree branch. After we got the tree branch out of the prop we went and tied up on a dock that went up to the island. We got on to the dock and went up on to the island and walked on a trail and went up to the house that had the spotted towhee coming to it. Just as we walked up on to the porch I caught a glimpse of the spotted towhee flying in to the bushes. We went in side the house and waited for the spotted towhee to come out of the bushes. We waited for a few minutes Then I caught a glimpse of the spotted towhee moving around in the bushes it eventually the spotted towhee came out and I was able to get some fairly good photos of it from in side the house but then I went out side to try to get a bit better photo of it and I did then after a while we went back to the boat and went home. It was exciting for me to see the spotted towhee.

1. Question when did the towhee get there?
2. Question where did the towhee come from?
3. Question how long will the towhee be here for?

Today when I was on my way back from the park, the sun was setting and I went out on the breakwater. When I was out on the breakwater, I saw an otter so I went out on the rocks and got out my camera. But by the time I had done that the otter had dove under the water. I waited out on the rocks for a bit, then I saw two otters farther out by the breakwater. I tried to get some photos of them but they went back into the water. I continued waiting out on the rocks. Then I heard one under the rocks I was on, and I looked down and saw one near me eating something. When I tried to take a photo of it, it saw me and when out of site. I could still hear it under the rocks. When I was still waiting, I heard one father up so I went to take a look. When I was standing on a rock looking around, I thought I heard an otter by me so I looked down. One of the otters was under the rock I was on. I tried to get a photo before it ran, but I didn’t get one. After a little while of chasing the otters around, I saw them in the harbor and one was near the breakwater. I could see the bubbles and it in the water when it dove, before it got out of site. After a bit more waiting I saw them near the boardwalk part of the way on the rocks and I got two fairly good photos of them there before I went back to get my gloves which I had left on a rock, and go home.
Why were the otters so hard to get photos of?
where did the third otter go?
what was the one otter eating?

Today I went down to the park. On my way down to the park I walked down finn ally and barlow street and hear some birds that sounded like waxwings. It took me a few minutes but then I found them sitting up in a tree. I looked at them for a few minutes then went on down to the park. On my way back from the park I went back by there and the bohemian waxwings were still in the tree but then flew away. While I was still there though another bird flew up in to the tree and I looked at that bird and it was a cedar waxwing. It then flew down in to a crab apple tree and ate on some crab apples. I took some photos of then went home. After I got home I let dad know about the waxwings and then after lunch I went back down there. I saw them again and let dad know about them. While I was down there I saw and took some photos of varied thrushs and american robins. I took some more photos of the waxwings and then gave up on watching them and went home. It was exciting to see the birds.

1. Question why is there still a cedar waxwing around this time of year?
2. Question where did the bohemian waxwings before this?
3. Question why had the crows,ravens,starlings and, robins not eaten all the crab apples already?                                                        varied thrush                                                                 american robin                                                    bohemian waxwing                                                     cedar waxwing

Today when I went down to the park for the second time today, it was mostly cloudy. When I was out on the breakwater, I saw some seagulls and ducks out on the water. I also saw a song sparrow on the beach. When I was in the park, I saw some goldeneyes and other birds out on the water. When I was at the battle site bench, it was low tide and I saw an eagle out on the beach by the water and I saw some crows and seagulls out on the beach too. When I was by the trail by the river, I saw some seagulls out on the water. When I was on the trail by the river, I saw three ducks on the water on the other side of the river, and I saw a winter wren in the bushes and saw squirrel in the trees. When I was coming off the trail by the river, I heard some sort of bird in the trees. When I was on my way out of the park, I saw a varied thrush on a rock, that flew away when it saw me. When I was on my way back home, I could see some of the sun set.
What was the bird I heard?
What was the song sparrow doing on the beach?
Why were not many ducks?

Yesterday mom rowan and I went down to the park. It was cold and ice when we went. I slid around on the road as we walked when there were no cars coming. Once we got to a little trail (that went down to the parking lot of the sawmill creek plaza) I saw a big pile of snow and ice by where we were coming down. I jumped off the rock wall (that the trail that we were on went down) and in to the pile of snow and ice but it turned out to be made mainly of ice. I went back up the trail and jumped again and again and again. After I jumped a few more time we went on our way to the park. I slid on the bike path as we went down to the park. I had a lot of fun doing it. Once we got in to the park we walked down one of  the trail and I played kick the the ice chunk for a bit as we walked down the trail. We walked the loop on the sawmill creek road side of indian river. The tide was out a little ways and I could see the ice in the estuary laying on the grass. On our way home rowan and I were being followed by a couple of dogs that had collars on them but I did not see an owner around any where and after a while one of the dogs went down in to a trailer court and was chased in to the road by another dog neither of the dogs were hit but eventually the two dog went down a trailer into that same trailer court and we went home.

1. Question where was the dogs owner?
2. Question why did the one dog chase the other dog?
3. Question where did those dogs live?

This morning I got up at 7:00am to go trapping with a friend. I needed to be down to there place by 7:45am I was down there on time and we went down to the boat and got on our why to the trap line. It was cold on our way to the boat and it was even cold and snowier when we got to the trap line. We anchored and went a shore. It was very snowy it was about six inches deep by the ocean and it got deeper as we hike. While we were hiking we saw some blood in the snow and some deer hair on the snow. We hike up aways further and put on our snow shoes that we had brot with us. I one spot it was about one or two feet deep. We caught three big marten and one small marten they also caught a marten in a set that they had caught nothing in in the ten years that they had it set up. We also caught one squirrel that I carried for a while and then when we got to one of there last set  we sat down and one of them poled out a little stove and heated up some water from the river and we had hot chocolate and coffee. I saw one set of marten tracks up there and quite a few otter slides and places where they had played. On our way back we took some landscape photos and when we got back to the boat there was a couple of people that we had pasted on the way up saying that there boat had frozen up and so we toed they and while we were toeing them two more boats waved us down and so we were toeing three boats at one time. We did not need to toe the other two boat very far though after we dropped those two boats off we took the finally one to the harbor then went to the harbor that we were in. It turn in to a little more of an adventure then what I thought it would but it was still fun.

Today when I went down to the park it was sunny. When I was getting close to the harbor I saw some juncos and chickadees in some trees. When I was by sage beach, I saw a bufflehead, some goldeneyes, some chickadees, some kinglets and a squirrel on a thin tree branch eating a small pine cone. When I was in the park, I saw some ducks and a wood duck out on the beach in the water. When I was at the battle site bench, it was low tide. When I was by the trail by the river, I saw some crows and seagulls out on the beach by the water and some of the seagulls were in the water. I also saw a great blue heron out in the shallow water coming from the river. When I was on the trail by the river, I saw two female common mergansers on the other side of the river. When I was on my way back home the sun was setting, and I saw some more juncos and some more chickadees in someones yard.
Why was the squirrel sitting on that small branch?
Why was the wood duck out on the beach?
Why were there more juncos, chickadees and kinglets today?

Today when I went down to the park, it was sunny. When I was on the breakwater I saw some seagulls. When I was by the battle site bench, I heard and saw some Black oystercatchers out on the beach by the water along with some seagull. When I was at the battle site bench, I could still see the black oystercatchers and the seagulls out on the beach. The tide wasn’t to high. When I was by the trail by the river, I saw some seagulls. When I was on the trail by the river, I saw some more seagulls, some ducks and the two swans on the other side of the river. I saw two ducks and a wigeon on the side of the river I was walking on, and they flew to the other side of the river when they saw me. While I was still walking on the trail by the river, a male bufflehead flew up the river and landed. When I was on my way back home, I saw some common mergansers and two red breasted mergansers one male and one female all by sage rock.
Why have the two swans stayed at the park?
Why was it sunny today?
Why was a wigeon with two ducks?

This morning after I did some stuff in the house I went down to the park. It was cloudy when I started out but after I was down there for a bit the sun came out. Once I was by sage rock I saw some golden crowned kinglets and a brown creeper as well as a varied thrush and a song sparrow. I went to the front of the visitor center and saw a great blue heron and a bunch of mallards and a couple of oystercatchers. I got out to the end of the park and saw some crows and a few gulls. Once I got out to the estuary I saw some american wigeons as well as the female eurasian wigeon. I took some photos of the female eurasian wigeon and went up the river trail. Has I got further up the river trail I saw a few more mallards and a couple of trumpeter swan and a few buffleheads and a few common goldeneyes. I up on to SJ campus and looked in a few of the mountain ash trees they have there and I saw a northern fliker and a varied thrush I took some photos of the varied thrush and then went on home.

1. Question why were there so many mallards down at the park?
2. Question why were most of them out in front of the visitor center?
3. Question Why were there common goldeneyes and buffleheads up the river so much farther then what I normally see them at that type of tide?                                          common goldeneye                                                           varied thrush                                                           black oystercatcher                                                             eurasian wigeon