It was a rather unexpected move, but a job opportunity presented itself that allowed my wife and I to get ourselves and our daughter "back where we belong." Though I am not a native Northwesterner, my wife grew up in Bellingham, WA and I have come to consider the NW my home too, as we were married out here and had our daughter out here.
We came back last July and after getting the family settled and starting my new job, I began the long selection process of finding a new sit spot. This was a challenge, as my backyard was not much of an option(we have a brand new construction house with no landscaping) and I live in a fairly well developed suburb of Seattle with lots of stripmalls and office parks. When studying Google Maps one day, I found a nice little park about 10 mins from my house and 5 mins from my office, which I thought would provide me some great flexibility to stop before or after work, or even to take a my lunch break there. It is not that large, and it is well-visited by walkers and dogs, but there are a few spots where you can "get away" and relax under the hemlocks and cedars. My main spot is beneath a large hemlock or fir(need to nail that one down next time) which keeps me dry if it is drizzling.
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| View from my new spot |
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| Another angle, with snag where I confirmed the Towhee call |
In my selection process, I explored a few other spots as well, but I continued to visit this one and have found that it seems to have the most "magic." I have already had some wonderful experiences...About 2 months ago, I was able to call-in a chickadee so close that I almost put out my finger for it to step on to....a few weeks ago I saw my first Common Yellowthroat (which was really cool as I've been wanting to see one for some time now) and I have also found some scat which I believe is coyote or fox.
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| Common Yellowthroat |
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| Coyote or fox scat??...and yes that is my work phone added for scale. Sorry Mr. Employer:) |
Though I've been out to my spot numerous times, I had not officially started my "Sit Spot Routine" out here, but I figured I would start since I am participating in the Wilderness Awareness Schools 30 Day Sit Spot Challenge.(http://kamana.org/lessons/articles/30-day-sit-spot-challenge/)
30 Day Sit Spot Challenge: Day #1 Observations
1) Strong, cool winds coming from the southwest...which was different since the cool winds tend to come more from the north.
2) Flocks of Swallows(20-30 cliff swallows...I think) chasing each other around the trees as if they were in a WWII dogfight. The maneuverability was really amazing.
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| Spotted Towhee |
4) A few Robin sightings. I am looking forward to getting to know the resident Robins at my spot, as I did when I was back in Ohio. Those who have read this before know how much I do really enjoy their company.
5) Last, I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of an Eastern Cottontail hopping into the shrubs. It was amazing how quickly he just disappeared into the thicket.
Looking forward to getting out there for Day 2 and happy to have my family back where we belong.
With Thankfulness and Appreciation,
Greg (a.k.a. JAAN)
P.S. Just had my first of six classes this past weekend for the Marine Naturalist Training Course through the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, WA. (http://www.whale-museum.org/education/mnt.html). I'll be sure to give you an update after classes 2 and 3 this weekend....STAY TUNED NATURE LOVERS:)
