St. Patrick's Day Llama

 Oops! I suddenly realized with all the vaccine, baby goat, and beach trip excitements, I had forgotten to post photos of the Christmas llama's reincarnation from Valentine's Day llama to St. Patrick's Day llama on March 1st. So here he is, all dressed in green with blanket by friend Claudia and crocheted shamrocks courtesy of friend Carol. I'm a bit late as he is only a week away from becoming an Easter llama!

Another Beach Escape

 It has been challenging to find a time this month when tides and weather cooperated for my monthly Beached Bird Survey for COASST. Finally yesterday worked out. I only go after the tide begins going out as during an incoming tide, the portion of Bob Straub Park beach that I survey is inundated up to a very steep cliff with lots of huge logs rolling in and out. I'm eager to do citizen science surveys, but not interested in getting smashed by a log or washed out to sea. Yesterday was perfect. Except for all the Spring Break families. Fortunately, they mostly hovered around the access point while my survey begins a full kilometer south of that point. A few people walk the beach near water's edge that far but virtually nobody wanders around in the soft sand higher up, where I have to look for beached (dead) birds. Happily, yesterday, I found no beached birds, just blue sea, nearly windless sky and lots of sand and logs.. 

I took no photos as I was headed afterwards to other sites to look for Black Oystercatchers (BLOY)  Peregrine Falcons and Bald Eagles. I found all. And took lots of photos. A few of which are below. First, the Peregrine... from a great distance...

 

 

 

 Then came the Black Oystercatchers, my favorite coastal bird. Today, I was in luck.

A pair of BLOY were hanging out together on an offshore tidal rock along with one, and then a pair of gulls. Some time after I arrived, a third BLOY flew in and picked a fight with one of the pair. They went at it beak and claw and flew up doing aerial combat. Every time one (I assumed the male of the original pair) managed to set the intruder to flight, it circled around and came back for more. This went on for at least half an hour. Eventually two birds flew off and one remained, happily foraging. I have no idea if the original pair left together or if the intruder won the contest. I just hope a pair nests in the area on an offshore rock as several pairs do most years.

Here's the battle as it unfolded... I loved how unruffled the gulls were. They must be accustomed to squabbling BLOY.

 

Before the war began...

 

 

 After the interloper arrived... full-fledged conflict...

 

 

 

 

The gulls stay out of it... although they commented lustily...

The action was taking place a long way from me... way out there, so my photos are a mite fuzzy...

My next stop was at a known eagle's nest on my way home. Luckily, an eagle was bouncing around in the nest doing something... maybe rearranging the furniture? The nest was even farther away than the Black Oystercatchers were...

It was a lovely relaxing day away from the farm. Johnny stayed home and cut firewood all day. Hiking for miles on sand is not his idea of fun. Cutting and stacking firewood is not mine.

My Quarterly Escape to the Beach

 Both Johnny and I have been pretty exhausted from all the work here thanks to ice storm and goats kidding. So we escaped yesterday to the coast for my quarterly mile walk for CoastWatch. Johnny spent the time monitoring an eagle nest not far away. It was a beautiful nearly windless day. The beach is now open again for vehicles but there were few there, also few people. I took lots of photos. The ocean is such a beautiful, living organism. It always refreshes me.

Vaccine and Baby Goats

 Johnny and I each got our first Covid-19 vaccine last week, the same week I had two goats due to kid. Happily, they missed our vaccine day. However, one of the triplets born to a young (first freshener) mother (Lou Ann) died 4 days later. Another first freshener (Belladonna) not due to kid for several weeks, came early with the tiniest buck kid I've ever seen. He lived less than an hour. His sister was twice as big but still tiny and is doing fine. 

The next day the second first freshener who was due that week (Lou Ella) kidded with two bucks, easily three times as big as the tiny doeling born the day before, weeks early. That was a stressful week. But all the mamas and their surviving kids are doing well now... though difficult to get photos of. Especially since I can't seem to hold the camera still, so have blurry photos even when the kids hold still. (I'm saying this is because I'm always tired during kidding season, not because I'm old.)

Belladonna's tiny doeling

Lou Ann's doelings

Lou Ella's bucklings

While I tend goats and clean kidding pens daily, Johnny is still cleaning up after the ice storm. Here he comes with one of his last loads of brush and firewood he has chainsawed off the driveway...

While I was waiting for Johnny to get into position for a photo, I heard the "Cheery, cheery ME" of Ruby-crowned kinglets. Or course, I did not at first remember what bird makes that sound so I had to get binocs and find out. Once I did, I took a photo.

 

We had mostly dry and sunny weather, although cold nights, for our busy vaccine, goat kid, storm clean-up week. The flowers in our yard added cheer and I tried taking a few photos before the rains returned.

It will be a relief when all the young mothers and their offspring are back with the herd so my kid pen cleaning slows down. It will be an even greater relief when our second vaccine shots are over and we can again, two weeks later, get together with vaccinated friends... without six feet and masks separating us. For this we are very grateful to the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde who opened their extremely well organized vaccine clinics to the surrounding communities. Without them, we would still be waiting for our first vaccinations.

Balm of Gilead

 There is always a silver lining to every cloud, I've heard. And there was to the ice storm. It brought down poplar limbs by the truck load... including the buds that my friend Velta always used this time of year to make Balm of Gilead. That balm is what took down the horrid swelling from a tick bite I had a few years back, and the pain and itching from bee stings, and it eased my sore muscles from the recent gate incident... once I remembered to use it. Balm of Gilead is very good stuff.

 But friend Velta died last November. She had told me how to make it so I've been collecting poplar buds ever since the ice storm, talking friends into coming over and collecting poplar buds, putting some of the buds in jars with olive oil and setting them behind the wood stove (in a warm, dark place for 4-6 weeks, as per directions).... and freezing many because there are a LOT of poplar buds down. I'm beginning to think Velta, in the beyond, initiated the ice storm to provide me with plenty of poplar buds to make Balm of Gilead. No, not really. She would not have had the storm level everything else as well as the poplars. 

Friend Mary and I, along with Annie Puppy, recently walked the paths through our woods along Agency Creek, or as much of the paths as we could find and navigate. As Mary said, "It looks like a hurricane came through here!" And it does.

Mary clambering through the downfalls. She is on a path, believe it or not

Annie beside a big downed tree, now a nice seat

Annie had less trouble than we did. She is at the right in this photo

The wide main path was only blocked along parts of it. Here Mary makes her way through

 Johnny and I have not yet begun liberating the woodland paths. We are still working on the areas by the house and driveways. So are our neighbors as we can tell by the sound of chainsaws all around us.

But spring will not be thwarted and our yard is abloom with spring flowers. One of these days I'll take time to take photos of the flowers and the new baby goats, first ones born today, March 8th... while I was disbudding poplars.