Having a ducky time

While we have had a lot of rain we've also had some nice days!  D'light and I continue our routine of crittering at Seward Park.  It's a lot of fun for both of us and with the change in weather we often have the place to ourselves since we go in the morning.  After a good hour of crittering we decided to stop and watch the duck activity.

 

D'light says "Do you see the ducks?!"

 

 

 

 

This was fun as we watched the ducks diving for a snack.

 

One duck diver...

 

 

 

 

These two say "We can do that"

 

 

 

Not quite in unison

 

 

They got their timing down

 

 

 

These three say "We can do that"

 

 

 

Made me laugh and I was impressed!

 

 

 

But then comes a fourth...

 

 

 

Who joins in the snack party!

 

 

 

"Bravo!" This spectator gives two wings up!

 

 

 

"That was fun now lets do more crittering!"

 

A couple of weeks later and we are seeing a variety of water foul in the lake and still having nice sunrises!

 

 

The moon watching the sunrise

 

 

 

 

Mt Rainier in the back ground

 

 

 

Lots of geese and a variety of ducks

 

 

 

We are no longer seeing just Mallard ducks.  Unfortunately a lot of the ducks stay pretty far off shore and my camera doesn't zoom that far. This is the best my camera can do and it's still too far out to ID the ducks.  But, it's great to see new ducks arrive for the winter.

 

 

 

This is a grebe and he and his friends were doing lots of diving for a meal

 

 

 

I don't know the Id on this bird but,  it is but it has an interesting shaped head.

 

 

 

We find this...

 

 

 

People do lots of fishing in Lake Washington and that leaves lots of line left in the lake. This obviously causes harm to birds, otters and other animals who make Lake Washington their home.  Whenever we find line like this we get it out of the lake and into a garbage can.

 

 

 

Mallards are still around and I think they are beautiful birds.  I also like them because the come prtty close to you so, easy to photograph.  With the change in season the light does some interesting stuff to photos.  Looks like a oil sheen on the water but that's just the reflection of the sunrise and blue sky.

 

 

A  pair of Wigeon  that were pretty far out.
 

 

 

A whole flock of birds and again pretty far out which is why the video is shaking.

 

 

One of my favorite photos of fall.  The moon with fall colors in the foreground.

 

 

Colors and critters at Volunteer Park

 

Volunteer Park is by far D'light's favorite place to critter.  There are so many squirrels

 and he has a blast chasing after them.  It's a good park to work his brain and burn some terrier energy.  When D'light first came to us back in 2011 he was so afraid of everything that even thinking about chasing a squirrel was worrisome for him.  With lots of fun work in the environment we now have a critter crazed boy - which is what we wanted!  Volunteer Park as you will see is currently full of fall colors.

 

D'light says "I'm here, lets play the game of chase!"

 

 

 

 

Scanning for critters

 

 

 

 

The colors are amazing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A boy on the move and with a 40 ft long we run, run and run some more.

 

 

 

With the rain and low light I get a lot of blurry photos

 

 

 

What D'light loves! And the squirrels at this park often taunt D'light. They either chatter at him or like this fella, come down just enough to be out of reach of D'light.  You can see the nut mouth!

 

 

 

 

Off to look for more.  D'light loves the chase more than anything else.

 

 

 

While D'light scans, I capture the last of a summer dahlia and fall leaves in full swing.

 

 

 

Off we go

 

 

 

 

I find a bees hive from this summer.  We've had a good amount of rain and wind so that no doubt blew this out of a tree.

 

 

Looking for critter scent

 

 

 

 

On the hunt...

 

 

 

"Do you smell any critters?"

 

 

 

Long gone are D'light's worries about wet feet.  This use to really bother D'light. But, all our crittering in the rain and mud has taken away that worry.

 

 

 

Love this dirty boy!

 

 

 

A wet and beautiful madrone tree

 

 

 

 

Trying to find a critter scent track

 

 

 

"I know your guys are around"

 

 

 

All this sniffing is great for his brain

 

 

 

 

As we make our way through the park we take in the sights

 

 

 

 

Time to go and after 1.5 hours of crittering D'light was ready for some R&R!