Salmon news, orca news

I've been collecting string on fish, and mammals that swim of late.

I first spotted this orca story this weekend, talking about the sea wolves going down to California to find something to eat, because presumably, they can't find grub up here (fish, salmon, seals).

In the all things are connected train of thought, part of the reason there may not be enough food to keep the orcas here, can be traced to the environmental degredation that results in fewer fish for them to eat in the first place.

Of course, they might not find the salmon fishing much better in California, according to this article.

Finally, there's an interesting New York Times piece that talks about environmental groups struggling to define what to protect in the age of global warming and changing ecosystems. The article again talks about the effort to save the salmon here, when the fish are having trouble making it upstream due to thermal blocks in the rivers.

Photos courtesy of the Associated Press

Coyote hunting season is about to begin

At least according to the U.S. Navy, which has its sights on a coyote that's been living in Discovery Park, according to this Seattle Times article.

Now, don't get me wrong, if the coyote had harmed a human, I would have acknowledged the necessity of this. But so far, it's just been seen, and I think chewed up a cat. I don't think that deserves a death sentence.

There have been coyote sightings all around Scenic Hill, in fact there was a flier that circulated this fall about a coyote and cat-small dogs going AWOL. And late one night, coming home, I saw what at first appeared to be a small dog jogging just at the edge of my headlights. But then the tail came into focus. Too bushy and too silver for a dog. It was a coyote on the hunt.

And I do know that there's a pack of coyotes near The Lakes, that set about to howling each evening, and more than a few cats have disappeared from that complex, I'm told by friends that live there.

No one, as far as I can see, is calling for a coyote hunt here.

Photo taken by the Seattle Times.

(As an update later in the day, the PI posted this story. Apparently the coyote has a reprieve.)

How do birds fly?

This article caught my eye on the BBC feed I get on my Yahoo account.

If you ever wondered how birds fly, or how they learned to fly all those years ago. It's a good read.

Nudibranchs are so cool

This was in the mess of photos that we took at the beach last Saturday, and tho they are small, nudibranchs are cool.

They are the hard rockers of the beach world, with spiky hair and all. They crawl around the beach, rocks and swim (sort of) in tide pools, and eat sea anemones. The stinging cells, they swallow with nary a thought, and those same stinging cells end up at the end of their "hairs," so they won't get eaten.

More pictures from the beach walk

Here are some more pictures from Saturday night's beach walk, including the top of a live moon snail, the baby star fish and a nudibranch...very cool.

Despite the rain, the cold, they came

As I was driving to the night beach walk last night, I kept watching the sheets of rain ping off my windshield like hornets.

Great, we're going to get what, maybe five people showing up? But once I made it to Seahurst Park, and I did make it this time, not only were there about 10 volunteers from the People for Puget Sound, the Environmental Center and the Beach Naturalists, but about 50 people, many with small children, showed up for the two-hour walk.

We saw lots of starfish, a few annoyed kelp crabs, a blue heron that suddenly found itself in kleig lights (I didn't know they could fish at night), baby star fish, moon snail shells, chitons, whelks, and hermit crabs, plus plenty of anemones.

Once the walk was finished, Daoud Miller, of People for Puget Sound, told the story of Raven and Loon (I think) stealing the Sun for Mankind. A perfect winter story.

Photos by moi!

Here are the snaps. (I'm still trying to get the sand out of my camera).

Tonight, Seahurst Park, Be There!

And pray it doesn't snow on us. The Beach Naturalists, People for Puget Sound and Environmental Center (Burien), will be at Seahurst Park again tonight from 7 pm to 9 pm to see what critters we can find.

Dress warmly, bring a flashlight and remember to wear waders. And also, don't trust google for directions to get to this park. Go to the People for Puget Sound web site.

Mill Creek Restoration Project

Was going to go up north to a watercolor class, but an overturned school bus nixed that. So on the way back, I decided to drive down the West Valley Highway, and try to find out more about the Mill Creek Restoration Project from that sign I keep passing on the bottom of Peasley Canyon.(hence, this monet type shot I took of one of the projects.)

It was mentioned in the Auburn State of the City address, in rather dull wording. They are continuing with restoration around the creek (which I think goes all the way to Kent, I've put in a call. )

And here is another link that seems to give an update and gives a phone ## if you wish to get involved in restoring what natural area is left in the Green River Valley. (It's also mentioned in the mayor's blog, but I couldn't find it.) The birds do seem to like it. I had to take two swipes past some areas to shake off people riding my bumper.

One was to take a picture of a red tailed hawk, that was perched on a tree by 15th Street in Auburn, when I went back around, no bird. Then I realized it was on the ground on top of something just off the median. He jumped up on a sign right in front of me, giving me the eye, and then the camera shy raptor flew away.

By the by, the Rainier Audubon Society will be having its next meeting in Federal Way this Monday. I plan to come, and pay my membership fee, finally.

Photos courtesy of Audubon (the bad one is mine.)

Sometimes the food just isn't worth it

I laughed when I first saw this story, before I realized that some of the birds had died while diving into a pile of fish guts for dinner.

I read later the company that owns the fish processing plant is picking up the tab for the medical care for the birds, and donated several thousand to wildlife rescue agencies.

My hubby, who spent some time in Adak, Alaska, said that in fact, the bald eagles would perch on rock and you'd feed them like crows up there. Here's a great article from the local branch of the Nature Conservancy on eagles. I usually see one hanging out in an old snag by the Smith Brothers Farm each winter. But this year, not. Has anyone else seen the baldie?

In a roundup of other stuff I saw over the weekend, there was the story about fish, that died, again, in Hood Canal. Also, I saw a short blip in the Seattle Times about goats needing a home. Anyone? They work wonders on blackberry bushes.

Photo courtesy of the AP

Marco Polo with the Owls

In a few weeks, my daughter and I will be taking a nap in the afternoon, with the goal of getting up in the late pm, for an overnighter with the owls.

On Feb. 23, at 10:30 pm, the Soos Creek Owl Prowl will begin, as we look for things that go hoot in the night.

I love owls. This summer, I was taking the dog for a walk around Scenic Hill in Kent, when I heard what sounded like kids playing Marco Polo, except they were hooting at each other in Mill Creek Park. I listened for a bit, tho, and realized it wasn't kids, but owls saying hello.

Also, later in the summer, my husband and I were out at Ocean Shores, eating dinner and watching the dunes. All the sudden a silver shape shot out of the gloom and rocketed like a fighter pilot just above the grass, looking for his dinner.

I think it was this fellow, that I sketched this weekend. Maybe a grey owl?

This guy is a baby that was on the owl prowl web page.

Pick up the Trash, Save the Sealife

I read this PI article about volunteers cleaning up the beach of debris and could only cheer from the sidelines.

Truly, when you're on the beach, and you see some trash, pick it up, so it won't end up in the gullet of the some poor loon or seal, which will later slowly die from ingesting it. This story, of course, talks about old pilings (dont' really expect you to drag those from the beach) and old fishing nets (an entire net is heavy), but it does give a URL to report drifting old crab pots and nets. Anyway, do want you can to get these killers out of the ocean,and picking up an old six-pack plastic holder, or yogurt container is a good place to start.

Switching gears a bit, if you're interested in walking on the beach at night again, please come out for the second People for Puget Sound beachwalk at Seahurst Park. I'll print directions (google will get you lost) in this blog as we get closer to the Jan. 19 walk. It's a night, but we'll bring the goodies and build a bonfire.

Last time, the crew found an ocotopus. So please come out, and bring a trash bag! Oh, and one last article I came across about how global warming might eventually mean downsized sea creatures.

Photos courtesy of the PI and People for Puget Sound

Think I'll Go Eat Worms...

Or at least poke them.

This is what my daughter and I do when it's pouring outside, like it is tonight.

We have a crop of night crawlers, or large earthworms out in our front yard. Every time it rains, they poke their head (tail?) out from their holes and lay on the sidewalk. If you go and poke them, they quickly retract inside the hole.

Okay, odd tho it may be, I sometimes debate what to do when the rain washes a bunch of these out on the sidewalk. Do I let the birds have 'em? Or do I look like a weirdo and throw them back in the soil, so they can do their nitrate and churn the nutrients thing.

As a walk-off, here is the story on the giant, and rare, earthworm from eastern Washington.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

While I'm on the Topic of Trees

Here's another from Slate on the best trees to plant that soak up the most CO2. Maybe I should run this down the street to the folks that just chopped down that 100-year old oak on Reitten.

Or give it to whoever has the contract to "prune," I use that word loosely, the Safeway cherry trees down on Willis Street. Gads, they aren't pruning those trees, but surely killing them as they trim off the branches right to the trunk. I finally went in and complained to the clerk, who agreed with me and said she'd pass it on to the manager.

Probably the strangest complaint they got that night. But I hope she passed on my thoughts. I wince every time I see those trees.

Gawd save the trees, and humans should help out too

In reading this story in the PI, I was struck by the fact that some folks just don't seem to get it.

Trees are valuable, not just because of the oxygen, wildlife refuge and shade their produce, but just because of their beauty and age. This talks of a 500 year old oak that couldn't be saved from a developer's blade.

Just up the road on Reiten, here, I noticed that an old oak was chopped down that was at least 100s of years old. Now, it may have been rotted, I don't know, but I still mourned its loss. Ever since we moved in this house, my husband and I have been in a tug of war over the cedar out front. He wants to chop it down, I say it stays. So far I've won this argument.

Then he set his eyes on the back yard pine, and I think that was only saved when the neighbors suggested that it be chopped down (:

Picture courtesy of the PI

Ah, a woman after my own heart

I grew up in Everett, and so often peruse the Everett Herald, when I came across this article.

I often drive my daughter crazy when we go on beach walks, either out at Ocean Shores or on my adoptive beach over at Des Moines, where I volunteer during the summer. I pick up garbage, no matter how small at every opportunity, when I do a beach stroll, or even on a dog walk.

Apparently, I'm not the only one with this fetish.

Photo courtesy of the Everett Herald

So what's the health of that stream running by your house?

I wonder that often as I drive by Mill Creek Park, near by home in Kent.

I plan to call up the City of Auburn tomorrow, and ask about the Mill Creek Restoration Project sign I see at the bottom of the West Valley Highway and Peasley Canyon Road, and ask about the health of the stream in general.

Here's a story on the stream health in Seattle, done by some SPU students (my alma mater). It's an interesting, if somewhat discouraging read.

Photo from the Seattle Times.