Dedication and Purpose

This blog is dedicated to Doreen Eaton. She has been my friend, inspiration and mentor. She is an English gardener and her comment when she first laid eyes on my property was, "It's nice but it's so... GREEN." Many of the nicer parts of my yard are designed or inspired by her. She has chosen some of the more interesting plants.

My goal as I work in my garden is not only to enjoy being outdoors and relax and breathe fresh air, but also to create a space that is useful as a playspace for my children, a habitat for local wildlife, and a visual feast to behold. I hope someday to also have a productive vegetable garden and fruit orchard.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Brown Creeper

As I was trying to take photos of the very quick Townsend's warblers I noticed another bird off in the woods, about 20 yards away, circling the trunk of a large fir tree.   It was another small bird - about 5 inches long with a brown dorsum and a strikingly white belly.  It was clinging to the bark and hopping around in a spiral up the tree trunk, occasionally stopping to probe into the crevices in the bark. 


It turns out this little beauty is an appropriately-named Brown Creeper (Certhia americana). 


Here are its pages on the Seattle Audubon website and the Cornell Ornithology lab's All About Birds site.  Both sites say that these birds are permanent residents of Washington State and are common.  This is the first time I've noticed one, but will be keeping my eyes and ears open for them in the future!
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