Here are some pictures treating slash piles following the summers fuel reduction projects. Unfortunately, it was too wet to effectively burn and we found the piles to be not covered correctly. So, hopefully we will get a second chance this winter for things to dry out enough to burn.
Meet my friend HU563. Ive known her for close to 10 years now. She resides right on the edge of the forest in the Fortuna area. Its amazing how close this owl will get me, some times downright startling. Owls flight is virtually silent, so once your in her territory you may just look up and see this owl perched 2 feet away from you – black eyes staring…
Its been a couple of years since I checked in on this owl and I found her at one of her nesting sites after a few tries. She was by herself and at first appeared to be non-nesting. She ate down the first mouse I offered in seconds. But then she flew off with the second mouse forcing me to scramble up the hill…
On the edge of a clearing in a little alder grove, she led me to her two fledglings. I have posted several pictures on this blog feeding mice to owls and this is why we do it. First and foremost is nest site protection and correctly establishing where their core area will be. Second is population monitoring, so scientists can track the population and reproductive trends of this species. But for now we can just admire the cute owlets…
This stuff might not hurt me, but for some reason I had an urge to not touch it. A lot of science fiction stories go bad when someone touches a strange slime.
Its really hard to capture the perspective of steep ground, especially when all I have is my camera phone. Believe it or not this picture is looking down a steep slope, over 70%. The trees are over 150 ft tall! These are days where after 6 hours I feel like I have been backpacking for a week.
I found the empty nest last year in a redwood stand above Scotia and then came across the one on the right a few weeks back in the woods above College of the Redwoods. A tiny bird suddenly darted off the tree and it clued-me in. They seem to build their nest about 4-5 feet of the ground in the ridges of thicker redwood bark. Anybody know what it is?
You ever see these weird mushrooms? Im not actually sure they are mushrooms. A bizarre slimy organism of the forest.
