At Last - Elk

Since the day I arrived with intent to live here in Clallam County, I've been on the lookout for wild Roosevelt Elk. I have spotted them on previous, vacationing visits. The last time had been on the drive over to Neah Bay, which is as far northwest as you can get in the lower 48. So I know they are here - somewhere. Forward to a sightseeing drive with my friend Barbara on our way from downtown Sequim, to our homes. 

Full grown rackadoodle with  coloring 

of the  youngster we spotted

I took the 'scenic route' driving from Washington Street and curled around Washington Harbor road. I didn't drive to the end of Washington Harbor, which about a week ago got us a view of a raccoon mom and her kits, racing across the road. Shortly after that, with classic Disney timing, the tiniest baby popped out of the shrubbery, not only adorable, but a rare lutino - partial - albino After staring at the car in abject horror, the tiny thing ran back into the shrubbery, there it continued staring. I was so befuddled & charmed I didn't even grab a camera for a shot. I know. I'm an idjit. 

So no raccoons today, but we drove on past the dairy farm, with it's bjillions of black & white Holstein cows. Then we took the winding Schmuck Road (yes, Schmuck Road). I was, natch, driving, and it was Barbara who spotted the herd of 22 elk off in the distance. The photo below gives you an idea how far off the herd was. 

So excited. We now live where one can spot magnificent Roosevelt Elk on a drive back from the grocery store! The herd consisted entirely of cow elk and their half grown calves-of-the-year. While some peacefully grazed on the grass, others were down, lolling on the ground, enjoying a nap or working on their vitamin D levels. 

I recently broke down, retiring my iPhone 6S plus, buying a Galaxy A20 Ultra. One of the main draws for me was the android includes quite the array of cameras. All the photos here (save for the raccoon) were taken with it. Not bad, not bad at all. 

I was driving, so uncharacteristically had my eyes actually on the road (can you imagine?). The entire herd would have one unseen without someone, with open eyes, riding shotgun. So I congratulate Barb on her wildlife spotting skills. Rest assured in future, gliding along Schmuck Road I will be scanning the distance for elk. 

Grand Day for a First Flight

Newly fledged Baldie in its adorable baby-downy-speckled plumage swooping by the  front porch

My dining room window faces north towards the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. This morning my attention was glued to the 1 acre field across the road. The field has 'grass as high as an elephant's eye' and today the grass is being mowing & harvested for livestock feed. 

View from my porch (adult eagle is the polka dot, on the grass, to right of the truck)

I was working on line, watching the progress of the field mower, when a HUGE raptor floated in front my startled eyes - Juvie Bald Eagle! I stared as it swooped and got so close to my window I thought it might crash into it. Then an adult baldie (mom or dad?) was swooping around after its wayward baby, in a game of 'catch me if you can'. 

Panting baby Baldie out for a spin

Talk about your photo opts! After several minutes I knew I HAD to retrieve the camera so I ran out to the garage, grabbed the camera out of the car, bolting back to the kitchen, then out onto the front porch. Turned on my camera and aimed.... NO BATTERY POWER, DAMN IT! Raced back to the garage, got another battery, then back on the porch for shots of the baldies swooping about.
Yeah. That would drive any birder buggy all right...

The baby Baldie landed in the power pole on the road by my front porch. Got photos of the baby messing with a nice wad of grass it had picked up out of the mowed field. I think that makes the grass a Baldie Tinker Toy.

Baby Baldie playing with a wad of grass

The adult sitting in field across the way, while its oversized baby comes in for a landing

The following hour was full of Bald Eagle antics, lots of eagle screams and chasing. Handyman Jim II came out of where he's working in the cottage, to see some of the action. The adult eagle landed in one of... wait for it, wait for it... MY TREES! Yes loads of photos of that.

Oh yeah, an eagle all up in my tree

Then as Jim II and I watched, and we were too excited to do anything but gape... a second adult eagle smacked right into the perched eagle, knocking it right out of the tree! I swear I heard it yelling 'TAG, YOU'RE IT!' That was followed by me screaming explicatives (poor Jim II) and the eagles bulleting around the fields again.

One or the other of the two adults has periodically sat on a snag at the Dungeness bay for about a month.  My guess now is they have a rookery nest over by the bay somewhere. I think their single chick is now out and about, playful and causing its Mom & Dad all sorts of aggravation.

Stick a fork in me, I'm done!

While baby watches, Adult eagle is about to land on the snag over the Dungeness inlet

Adult panting in tree up the road, after a came of catch with baby