Animal Habitat

I find myself taking an interest in birds. Why? Because we seem to have our own little animal habitat right here at our house. Here is the list of what we have spotted (or heard) on our property.

OWLS - I have heard 2 owls calling back and forth to each other at night. One is very loud and has a long call. The other is quieter and the call is much shorter. I also spotted one in the tree the other morning while I was feeding the horses. He flew away before I could get a good look, but from the back view I think it may be a Great Grey Owl. He was huge with a large wing span.

HAWKS - We seem to have a family of hawks. We see them quite often sitting on various fence posts out in our field or on our arena. Not sure the type, but maybe a red hawk?

EAGLES - That is right! We have a bald eagle (I assume a pair) who have nested in a tree across the street in our neighbor's field. Jeremy and I have both had the privelage of seeing one of them close up, once on our property and once in the neighbor's field. I also had to stop one morning on the way to work, as a different one landed in the middle of the road, and stood there. I had to wait until he decided to fly away.

SWANS - Yes, I know. Hard to believe. But for some reason, Whatcom County is all the farther south they go. They spend the winters in the fields. It is very stunning to see hundreds of white splotches strewn on top of the green fields in the area. Our neighbor's field, happens to be such a field. We see them many mornings, and hear them flying to and from.

RABBITS - Okay, so not so interesting and maybe the cause of Phoenix's flight into the road and recent collision with a car. But...they are here. They seem to stay out of our garden though in the summer, which is pretty amazing.

FROGS - One of my favorite things about the previous place we rented was in the spring you couldn't walk outside without being overwhelmed by the sounds of frogs and crickets. They were so loud they would drown out all other noise. I loved it! I was afraid we wouldn't have that here, but, this winter we heard one lone frog ribbiting in the creek next door. We wondered if anyone would join him. Well, as spring has come, they have. Lots of them. We have yet to enjoy them on a calm, windless day (with no cars), when they will be the most vivid, but I await the day with anticipation.