Monday, August 21
Today we took a ferry ride from Seattle out to Vashon Island. I
have been having a hard time feeling a sense of place here. It seems very
strange to be on an island with evergreens and hills. Just can't seem to figure
out where I am. Vashon is a very pretty island with some very nice views of
Mount Rainier, some nice beaches and, beautiful greenery.
The weather was excellent—cool but
with clear blue skies. After we arrived, we stopped at a small restaurant
where we ate outside. I had a good meal of fried halibut and chips followed by
homemade apple strudel. While we were eating, a police car pulled up, an officer
got out of the car, went over to a youth, put handcuffs on him and took him
away. This makes the 3rd vacation in four years that I have seen someone taken
away in handcuffs.
After that experience we drove on and stopped to look at a llama on one of the farms—some picked (and nibbled on) wild blackberries. Then down to a beach where we saw a Bald Eagle on a piling and a couple of Killdeer on the shore. Drove to another beach where we heard but were unable to find some songbirds in the bushes. On the way back, we stopped to look at the Bald Eagle again. While there we saw several Caspian Terns diving into the water and flying overhead. Red bills, black caps, four-foot wing spans—magnificent birds. Next we stopped at the original location of Seattle's Best Coffee and went in—looked at some of the old equipment they have and other displays. One of the interesting things was a board that had a multitude of items that were found in sacks of coffee they received—this included nuts, bolts, screws, Chiclets.
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On to another beach—very, very pretty but not much bird activity. Saw some ducks and on close inspection they all turned out to be Mallards. Spent some time just relaxing on the beach. We heard some tapping on a tree and it took us quite some time finally catch a quick glimpse of the birds. Finally decided it was a Hairy Woodpecker. Heard some very strange calls from a group of birds flying overhead—turned out to be more Caspian Terns. Saw an all dark gull which I believe was an immature Heerman's Gull. Headed back to the ferry and saw one Bonaparte's Gull in the water. The short ferry ride back afforded us a nice view of Mount Rainier.
Not too many birds today, but still another wonderful day.
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