I’ve been working on both a newsletter to my neighbors and a post lately about how lucky I am to have so much wildlife right here in my neighborhood. I live on a long-ish dead end street right in the middle of one of Washington State’s wealthiest cities. It’s one of the few streets left where you can still see traces of the days when this area was considered “out in the country”. In my time living here (almost 45 years now) my little lane has gone from a small handful of older houses with horse acreage, to 25 homes, many qualifying as McMansions (homes with 5,000 plus square footage, selling for well over $1,000,000).
When I saw Cee’s Fun Photo Challenge for this week,
I decided to combine my two projects with her challenge.
So here is the letter I sent out to my neighbors.
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Sub-Urban Animals!
A letter from your self-appointed S.E. 7th Street Wild Life reporter and Game Warden.
A few months back, I was pretty low, with all the dark hours and gray skies. I didn’t even want to go for one of my short but usually uplifting walks. It was so dismal out, for so many days in a row, I think I was developing some serious empathy for my clients over the years who have suffered from SAD. (Seasonal Affective Disorder!)
But I made myself go out there anyway.
And a few steps into my climb up the hill (yes, for me, it is a climb) I heard them!
Our SE 7th Street Bald Eagles are back!
Last year they graced us with many regular visits, perched up high on branches that seemed way too skinny to hold their heft. On most days, they could be found facing the sunrise, and later the sunset, either in the trees in my front yard, or up the street to the East across from the Mathes house.
As I hiked up the street on this gloomy day, head tilted back at a neck-killing angle, I saw them. They were circling, very low, right above the treetops, probably hunting for breakfast. Then they landed, and stayed for a long time.
I took this sighting very personally…like they had stopped by just to cheer me up.
I was so uplifted I wanted to write to the whole street to share about my encounter.
That made me remember that I actually used to do that a lot…write to the whole SE 7th Street list. It started with simple reporting of Coyote sightings.
Then one day, I witnessed something so amazing, I wrote a whole article about it.
Early one morning, I saw a Murder of Crows take down a Bald Eagle, on the busy road right at the top of our street. I’m sure the Eagle had gone after a crow’s nest or something but the Crow Call went out and a huge crowd of them came. Some Seagulls even stopped by to join in on the attack.
The event stopped traffic. Well, I guess I kind of stopped the traffic, pulling my car sideways across the street to prevent massive bird death. A cop happened along, saw immediately what was happening and helped chase the birds away and get the traffic moving again. I spent hours afterwards watching, and photographing, the escaped but clearly injured Bald Eagle up in a tree across the street from the Burdick house.
Soon after this event, I proclaimed myself the Game Warden and Wild Life Reporter for our street. I sent out a “newsletter” article called Urban Bird Gangs.
I had so much fun writing up the story, it is in part what inspired me to start a Blog. Now, I write about my animal adventures right here in our neighborhood all the time. Please feel free to check it out, although I do write about a lot of other things too. Some inane, and some harsh. Lots of animal stories; beautiful seed feeder birds, marauding deer, our neighborhood cats, the brazen Coyote pack (looking for our cats), and many Hummingbird shots. You may even find photos of beautiful plants, trees and flowers from your own yards.
https://chosenperspectives.com/
Back to S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder), I think I’m cured now. Especially in the last couple of weeks. It appears, we are being chosen again, by a beautiful pair of Bald Eagles. Maybe the same ones who roosted last summer, sunrise and sunset, in the biggest tree in front-yard (or as James calls it, “frun-chard”.) They seemed to be hanging out around 10:30 AM some mornings, on the more gray, windy days. Not great photos with only my phone but two mornings ago, that really cold, crisp, clear day, they were posing for the local paparazzi, so I ran for my real camera. So glad I did.
What a beautiful, majestic bird!
Again, please feel free to stop by the Blog and tell me what you think!!
Love our street!!
From,
Kathie (your oldest resident…well, longest anyway)
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So that was my letter to my wonderful neighbors but for Cee’s Challenge, I want to add this HUGE slide show. (Wish I knew how to do music for it too.)
Your photos are awesome!
Thanks so much. Each one an adventure!
Great shots of the eagles! Aren’t long lenses wonderful? I have seen a lot of eagles, but never had a decent lens with me at the time. So only my eyeballs remember. Your pictures are terrific.
Gosh Marilyn, not even sure what a long lens is. You mean the 30 X zoom on my little Canon Power Shot? I did really luck out with no wind to jiggle my arm and such great sunlight that day though. Thanks for the comment. Means a lot coming from you with all your talent!
What a wonderful assortment of wildlife!! A seagull on a wire with wings spread? Fabulous!! Those eagles… well you know how I feel about them. All wonderful- I keep scrolling through over and over
Wow, great compliment coming from my favorite bird photographer (Don’t tell ThroughOpenLens I said that, OK?) (;-)
I absolutely adore your wildlife photos. Great shots of the eagle.
Majestic is the very best word to describe these beautiful birds! Your neighbors are lucky to have you around, observing and documenting the creatures who kindly let all of you live near them!
I am often surprised that many of these animals have stayed. Builders have taken over so much of the local area that used to be so free, wild and uninhabited by people! At the bottom of our hill/street, there is a many-miles long greenbelt (which is what the city euphemistically calls the strip of land for the giant power lines) so most of the wildlife has been forced to move down there. But the coyotes come back up the hill for our cats and the deer, for our gardens. I don’t blame them at all really…it was theirs first!
Thanks for commenting. Always means a lot.