It's Tough Out There as a Little Dog- A Day in the Life on San Juan Island

Have you ever wondered what it's like for a puppy living on the west side of San Juan Island? Well, there's views...unlike a city dwelling puppy, the Haro Straits sits right outside your door. It's awfully fun to watch the sunrises and sunsets from the yard- the wilderness surrounding you and challenging your youthful expertise in scenting!

Little Miss Bailey celebrates her 11 weeks of life tomorrow...and what tales she has to tell. She has watched a superpod cross the Haro Straits, listened to the echoing blows of exhalations in the night, has been approached by curious mother deer and spotted fawn, to mutually determine if either presented any reason for concern.  She has hiked the trails at Lime Kiln and Cattle Point, frolicked with visiting children and kayakers at Deadman's Bay. She has traveled by ferry to Seattle and beyond, she has played with a Great Pyrenees in the surf at Anacortes. All in all, it's a dog's life.

It hasn't always been this easy though- life on an island (of course) has to throw you some interesting angles. It is just recently that the eagles have stopped circling when she plays in the yard. At 20+ pounds now, she's just too big to consider as a feast...unlike our neighbor's little pup three years ago- snatched from his yard one sunny afternoon.

And our little friendly foxes, while so much fun to chase and scent- pose yet another interesting twist. Not too long ago, I wrote a piece on Flickr about a relationship which had developed with a young fox in our yard.  Animal interaction at it's finest!

Well, this has been an interesting continuation to the story. This summer, we were able to determine this friendly little fox is indeed a female, when she brought her pups to the house one evening.  The pups were clearly intimidated by being so close to a human but the visit afforded me the honor of meeting them from afar.  Once Bailey arrived on the scene, the little fox, who we affectionately (if not somewhat unimaginatively...)call "Miss Foxy," has lingered longer and has come very close to the pup during each visit.  This was unnerving at first- I was always jumping to grab her up in my arms before the fox got too close and eventually trying to keep the determined little puppy from chasing the young mother.  It certainly seems as thought the young mother is simply curious about the new addition and acts as though she understands our mutual foray into new motherhood. Still, constant vigilance is in order.

All in all, life is good- but certainly not the usual childhood! :)

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A Tale of the Dragonfly

A beautiful start to a Summer Sunday on San Juan Island's west side. At approximately 5:00am this morning, the show began as the southern residents returned to the west side of San Juan Island. The light as too low to photograph, but I watched as the whales came from the west and then headed north (some close to shore, some not) in the very early morning light, their blows echoing off the shoreline. I did see some return an head south and no ID's were possible, but looks as though we'll have cetacean activity today!! Woo hoo!

Yesterday afternoon I spent some time at a local pond on the east side of Lime Kiln off of West Side Road. I actually went there to try and photograph a family of mergansers- but they decided to remain elusive in the grasses too far from my lens. However, what I did see pretty much made up for the birds, what appeared to be thousands of blue damselflies mating in widespread groups across the water. Not a good photo- but this will give you an idea of the encounter.

Keeping in mind that I know nothing about these creatures, I started taking photo after photo of the colorfully darting damselflies who alighted time and time again amidst the reeds. Some shots follow....

So, here's the question...what did I photograph?  I also found (potentially) nymphs around the water's edge...

I would appreciate any feedback on the red dragonfly photo- an ID would be sincerely appreciated! Also trying to determine of the photo above is actually a dragonfly nymph? Email me at limekilnwhalewatcher@yahoo- I'd love to hear from you!

As I wrote this blog, my attention was diverted out the window as an eagle made its way toward my house, heading up the hillside towards the roof. I heard a distinct "thud," and ran upstairs to see where it had landed. As I approached the sliding door, I looked outside only to see him/her perched on our deck railing. And what was he/she doing? Inside the door sat our 11 month old kitten named Tigger. Both were in a stare down, the cat watching in amazement as he came eye to eye with the biggest bird he has ever seen. A shot through my screen door...and another of the kitty panic attack! Yikes!

(Tried to get the photos to upload, no go right now...will check back later!) 

Have a great day! Sandy

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