CPC Tea 2013

A couple Saturdays ago, we got to attend the annual tea for the Community Pregnancy Clinic of Camas/Washougal. I've been involved with the clinic for a couple years now and I've loved working with such dear people doing something so worthwhile! I got to take some pictures at the tea. It's held at The Fairgate Inn, a really lovely B&B/event center up on Prune Hill. The staff always does such a wonderful job of hosting us!

Lovely place settings.

Twinkly lights. :-)

Fun table signs by Let's Talk Chalk.

 Amazing food!

 I think the turn-out was quite good. The speakers shared some really exciting things.

This and That

Here's a collection of different things that caught my eye this weekend.

M&Ms--yum!

Did you enjoy the beautiful sunshine we had yesterday? I think the grass looks so pretty with the sun shining through it.

After all the rain we've had over the last few months, the moss on the back patio is thriving.

This morning this guy came to visit our backyard, probably because of the little birds that come to our feeders. We think he's a Sharp-Shinned Hawk.

"What are you looking at?"

Backyard Wildlife

Today I'm continuing the unintentional birds/wildlife theme that I've had over the last several posts.

For Christmas Dad got Mom a really nice birdfeeder that's supposed to be squirrel-proof. We were skeptical, but I have to say, it seems to be working. The squirrels have tried and tried, but to my knowledge they haven't gotten any seed. I think it's supposed to be raccoon-proof, too, but today we realized something we hadn't thought about before--it's not deer-proof. See the evidence below.

Because the feeder is weight sensitive, it closes the ports when squirrels hang on it. Deer don't need to hang on it, they can just lick the seed out with their tongues. Oh well, our deer population doesn't seem too large, so I don't think this will be a huge issue. Sadly, this deer seems to have been lame; maybe that's why he was up by the house eating seed in the first place.

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

This morning Christina and I joined our friend Caitlin for a visit to the wildlife refuge in Ridgefield. We had fun spotting and photographing some of the many different kinds of birds that come to the refuge. 

We spent most of our time in the car, driving slowly through the auto tour loop. There is one place to get out and walk to a blind, where you can look over the wetlands for birds.

Caitlin and Christina looking out of the blind.

It was a cool, foggy morning, but by the end the clouds were burning off and the sun was shining. 

A blue heron.

A falcon, not sure what kind.

One of our most exciting discoveries was not a bird at all, but these cute river otters. We heard them squeaking before we actually saw them playing in the water.  

Canada goose.

A sparrow.

There are lots of different kinds of ducks and other waterfowl at the refuge. These are ring-necked ducks, I believe.

An American Kestrel. It's a very small kind of falcon, though this one was so fluffy that I didn't think he looked very much like an intimidating bird of prey!

There were quite a few bald eagles, which were pretty neat to see. 

Swans.

We took a second drive around the auto tour loop, hoping to see more river otters (Caitlin tells us we were really fortunate to see some). We think we saw one more, this little guy here. But there were also some nutrias around, and we weren't always sure if we were seeing an otter or a nutria.

Christina smiles for the camera through the side mirror.