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April 02, 2006

The Arboretum Project Week Thirteen

Panorama 4-2-06

So another week has blown past here in the Inland Northwest. In some cases, literally. The Palouse winds were pretty active this past week.

Today's weather was bright and warm for the most part, though we did have some clouds here and there. Lots of wildlife out and about as you'll see from the pics. Including someone's pet rodent. I know it was a pet because they left the fucking Habitrail case out with the door open. It was tucked under a bush, left there open, so the animal could get out and not be a bother to the owner any more. Based on the stuff scattered around the entry, I assume the critter had already left.

I can't understand such a cruel act. I mean, not only is it not good for the animals who actually live in the Arboretum, but the poor hamster or guinea pig isn't really designed to survive our weather. And they were left up the hill rather far from the lake, so it won't be able to get to water easily either. Basically, this pet, a creature who has never known anything other than a warm, safe home, was abandoned by some selfish, lazy motherfucker who didn't feel like taking care of it any more. I'd like to take them out of their warm, safe home and drop them in the middle of a hostile wilderness. That seems like a suitable punishment.

I mean, come on people. You don't want your guinea pig any more. Fine. Take it to the local humane society. They don't euthanize. And someone else may really want a new guinea pig. It would have a home, the new owners would have a pet and you'd have it out of your hair. This way, there's going to be a dead hamster in the arboretum sometime soon. Let's just hope it doesn't have anything nasty to spread to the rodentia that already live there.

Sorry. *Sally looks around. Climbs sheepishly down from soapbox. Dusts self off.* I got carried away. I just think life is hard enough for all of us without adding to anyone else's burdens or pain. But enough of the ranting. Back to the photography.

Branches

Buds

Bark

Spring is finally here, despite yesterday's snowstorm. One of the main signs is the way all the plants have decided to go ahead and bud. The whole place is practically vibrating with the energy needed to burst into flower.

The other clue that things are warming up is the presence of beneficials. I was starting to see them last week, but this week they were on anything that looked like a blossom. Hopefully we'll be seeing the big, fat bumblebee queens soon.

Beneficial & Buds

I've been trying to get shots of these guys for weeks. I'm not sure why they finally let me get close. These are actually two different birds who were within 10 feet of each other. The Sibley doesn't distinguish between male and female, so they may very well be a pair.

Killdeer Grass

Killdeer Stream

Bark II

Buds II

Bunny

Busy As a... You Know

Clematis Leaves

Trickle

Enchantment

Flowering

Red Buds II

Goose Goose Duck
(From here on out until the first snow, I suspect it's going to be more and more difficult to take pictures without including passers-by. The arboretum is just too lovely a place.)

Hallelujah

Joined

Surface Tension

Pollination

In order to give you a good idea of the number of fish in the upper lake, I took this picture. I had to bump up the color saturation and the contrast, but if you look, you can see three schools of koi. (If you can't see the third, look just above and to the left of what looks like the uppermost school.) There was another, even bigger school (roughly the size of all three of those together) feeding on the waterweeds at the far northern end of the lake, just to the right of where I stood to take this picture. It took me a while to realize that the clicking sound I was hearing in the stillness was the koi snapping the leaves of the weeds.

Koi -- 3 Schools

Magnolia Bud

Mallard Family Outing

More Leaf Buds

Like a Golf Course
(Especially now that they've mowed the lawn.)

Old and New - April

I want to come back and take this picture again in a week or two, when things are flowering.

WaterBranches

Pollination II

I cannot believe I got this pic. Usually, the silly things are too fast for me. But this one decided it would be okay running. I wasn't chasing it, I was just standing in one spot while they ran and flew past, frightened out of their bushes by people walking by on the trail.

Not very smart birds, quail.

California Quail

Pussywillow

Shredded

Spring Skyline

Tree Peony

Up the Valley

Watching

Posted by sally at April 2, 2006 09:08 PM

Comments

Posted by: Nancy at April 10, 2006 09:21 AM

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