Showing posts sorted by date for query ronald bog. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query ronald bog. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Bog Whisperer: Snow birds of Shoreline

Monday, December 5, 2022

Photo by Martin De Grazia
The snow, ice, and cold weather gave Bog Whisperer Martin De Grazia a chance to see the Bog Birds in different ways.

For example, this flock of geese, unconcerned about the snow on their backs - and they're not even Snow Geese!

Photo by Martin De Grazia
The Bog is actually quite shallow and often freezes over in cold weather. The crows don't usually spend time on lakes, so this is a novelty for them (and us!) They seem to be co-existing just fine with the killdeer in the background, who look a little puzzled at the icy footing.

Photo by Martin De Grazia
The heron sits in his usual tree, unperturbed by the snow clinging to the bark. I have to admit that when I first looked at the photo in a thumbnail version, I didn't see the bird. Even now, his feathers look much like the bark of his tree.

Martin says that the otters love the ice, swimming under it and popping up through the thin crust. Their dens have underwater entrances, so they are quite comfortable in this weather.

Ronald Bog is between I-5 and Meridian Ave N, with the entrance to the park on N 175th.

--Diane Hettrick



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Cormorants at the Bog

Saturday, November 26, 2022

 
Photo by Martin De Grazia

Suddenly Ronald Bog seems to be full of birds. Maybe it's the rain and change of weather. These are cormorants. We have a lot in the area. Besides the Bog there is a cormorant nesting tree by Echo Lake. Cormorants are often seen at Lake Washington and Puget Sound.

Christine Southwick wrote an article about them in her For the Birds column which we previously published: Cormorants, the Fishing Birds.

--Diane Hettrick



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Bog Whisperer: Where's Waldo (otter)?

Sunday, November 20, 2022

 
Photo by Martin De Grazia

A random pile of old logs and brush at water's edge at Ronald Bog. But wait! Wild creatures are there, checking out the photographer. Can you find them both?

Ronald Bog park entrance is on N 175th St between Meridian and I-5.




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Bog Whisperer: It's a great day for a swim

Sunday, November 6, 2022

 
Photo by Martin DeGrazia

You might think it's cold outside and that the water is cold. Martin DeGrazia's otter buddies relish this weather and went out for a swim in their home at Ronald Bog.



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Young otters at Ronald Bog

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

 
Photo by Martin DeGrazia

Photo by Martin DeGrazia

A couple of young otters were out at Ronald Bog Tuesday morning. Mom may have been nearby but she wasn't showing herself.

--Martin DeGrazia


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The Bog: Checking out the neighbors

Monday, August 1, 2022

Photo by Martin DeGrazia
 
The green heron pair at Ronald Bog are getting to know the neighbors. The turtles have long claimed the logs in the Bog so it's hard to tell if this is a friendly greeting, a negotiation, or a warning.

Photo by Martin DeGrazia

Or maybe curiosity. It looks like the turtle has drawn in his head, so perhaps he's not so happy with the new neighbor. And the green heron looks like he's trying to figure out what the turtle did with his head.

They have time to figure it out. 

--Diane Hettrick



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Mama Green Heron sporting her new do

Thursday, July 28, 2022

 
Photo by Martin De Grazia

Mama Green Heron was sporting her new do at Ronald Bog Wednesday.

Photo by Martin De Grazia

And this was her before shot.

Ronald Bog is between I-5 and Meridian Ave N at N 175th St in Shoreline. We don't have the contact info for her hairdresser - sorry.



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Ronald Bog: How to know it's almost summer

Wednesday, June 8, 2022

 
Photo by Martin De Grazia

The turtles are out! That's how you can tell that summer is near. Well, at least one turtle is out. They hibernate in the mud all winter and come out when the weather improves.

Then they seem to spend their days lining up on logs, like this one.

The otter is more interested in the photographer than in the turtle. Oh - wait - he was ready for his close up.

Photo by Martin De Grazia

That's better!

--Diane Hettrick



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Mr. Whiskers at Ronald Bog

Wednesday, June 1, 2022

 
Photo by Martin De Grazia

Mr. Whiskers came out of the water to say hello and pose nicely for Martin De Grazia. If crows can recognize individual people I don't see any reason why river otters can't do the same. And they all know the Bog Whisperer.

--Diane Hettrick



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Bog Whisperer: A gaggle of goslings

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

 
Photo by Martin De Grazia

It's summer at Ronald Bog and Bog Whisperer Martin De Grazia is there with his camera to document the action.

The baby goslings have grown into teenagers but they still stick together in a gaggle.



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Goslings on the roof

Friday, May 13, 2022

Photo by Martin DeGrazia

Melissa DeGrazia spotted this nest of goslings on the moss covered roof over the sign at Ronald Bog. Since they usually learn how to swim before they fly, I'm not sure how this is going to work out.

Hard to tell how many family units are in this photo by Martin DeGrazia

There were a lot of nests on the ground, though and the parents were all out herding their babies.

Photo by Martin DeGrazia

And here's a close-up of fuzzy yellowness.

Diane Hettrick


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Weather: Wait 15 minutes

Thursday, May 12, 2022

 
Photo by Melissa DeGrazia

So if your house is under the leading edge of this cloud, you will have the northwest experience of sun in the front yard, rain in the back.

This photo was taken at Ronald Bog park in central Shoreline.



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Goslings at Ronald Bog

 
Photo by Melissa DeGrazia

Today I received sad news that all three nests at Bitter Lake have failed. The lakewatcher there thinks that the problem is that the groundskeepers trimmed away all the foliage between the path and the lake, giving the geese no cover for their nests.

No lack of green space for goslings at Ronald Bog
Photo by Melissa DeGrazia

At Ronald Bog there is a different story, with this thriving family photographed by The Bogwatcher's Daughter Melissa DeGrazia.

--Diane Hettrick



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Ballinger Neighborhood Back in Action

Friday, April 1, 2022

Photo courtesy the Ronald Bog Blog

On Monday, April 4, 2022 at 6:30pm, in honor of Earth Day and the advent of Spring, Ballinger Neighborhood Association will host guest speakers, Brugger's Bog Native Plant Stewards Marla Tullio and Barbara Guthrie. 

They are the leaders of the restoration of our wetland habitat at Brugger's Bog Park being done in partnership with Forterra and Shoreline Green Partnership.

We invite you to come to hear about their important project and learn more about the Earth Day restoration work party at the Bog on April 24.

To join the meeting, go to our new website, https://www.BALNA.org, and add your address to our new email list. Or send an email to ballingerneighborhood@gmail.com. The Zoom meeting ID and password will be sent to you before the meeting.

Already know you would like to pitch in? Register to help now at the Earth Day event on April 24th: https://forterra.org/events/celebrate-earth-day-at-bruggers-bog-in-shoreline/

In other news, BALNA is gearing up for the return of our very popular Friendship Festival in late summer, and we are looking for neighbors interested in helping plan this year's event. Stay tuned!

BALNA Board
Stephanie Angeles, Judy Moore, Londa Jacques, Joyce Lingerfelt


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Bog Whisperer: Spring turtles at The Bog

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

 
Photo by Martin DeGrazia

Now we know it's spring. The turtles are starting to wake from hibernation and sun themselves on the snags of Ronald Bog.




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Bog Whisperer: New visitor to the area - a Green-Winged Teal duck

Friday, February 25, 2022

A pair of green-winged Teal ducks at Ronald Bog
Photo by Martin DeGrazia
The ducks are Green-Winged Teals. I don't think I have ever come across one of these before. If I had known what I was photographing I would have taken more pictures of them.

--Martin DeGrazia

Green-Winged Teal duck at Ronald Bog
Photo by Martin DeGrazia

The green is vivid on the male. I went through my photos and I've never heard of these before. I found a few other unpublished photos of unusual ducks, which I will start publishing. We have a lot of the brown ducks and the wood ducks.

I saw duck decoys long before I ever saw a photo of an actual wood duck. I was shocked. I had always assumed that the lurid coloring was some fetish that duck hunters used to lure ducks and not a representation of an actual bird.

--Diane Hettrick



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Bog Whisperer - they only come out in the sun

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

Photo by Martin DeGrazia

Aren't bog creatures supposed to come out at night? Maybe they do, but Bog Whisperer Martin DeGrazia was out in the sunshine at Ronald Bog, N 175th and Meridian Ave N.

Photo by Martin DeGrazia

This bog creature looks like he's falling asleep. It was a nice day for a nap on a log. By the way, those are branches, not his tail.

--Diane Hettrick



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Not just the coyotes are getting bold

Monday, February 7, 2022

 
Photo by Breck Haining

Photographer Breck Haining says, 

"I occasionally see River Otters by Log Boom Park in Kenmore, but usually when I do see them I do not have my camera. Yesterday I was birding by the marina which connects to Log Boom Park.  I happened to see a River Otter swimming near the shore. It later climbed up on a dock where I was able to take a good photo of it."

I find this astonishing. The first time I was told about river otters, in Echo Lake, no one had a clue what they were. It took several months and a children's book to identify the mystery critters as otters. 

It was several years before I got my first photo of an otter, taken by Martin DeGrazia at Ronald Bog. And it was several years after that before they started regularly posing for Martin.

I now know that they are in every lake, bog, and stream around us. But they have always been shy and elusive, even while they were stealing your prize koi.

With the pandemic and people staying in their homes, the coyotes started coming out in the daylight. I lived here for 20 years before I even knew that we had coyotes. Now I get reports weekly of coyotes boldly walking through yards and streets in the daylight.

Now the otters are coming out. They are far more benign that coyotes, but it's strange to see this one fully out of the water, staring down the photographer.

Warning: we also have raccoons, weasels, opossums, and bobcats.  I wonder if they will be next to come into the daylight?

--Diane Hettrick


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Ronald Bog: Birds on the freezing bog

Monday, December 27, 2021

Cold feet

Shallow Ronald Bog is usually the first to freeze over. The birds that frequent the bog adapt - walking on the ice, sitting / swimming in partially frozen water - and I'm not sure what's going on with the submerged bird with its long neck out of the water.

Photos are by Martin De Grazia.


A family of mallard ducks appear to be half in and half out of the frozen Ronald Bog.


Possibly the first photo of the Bog Ness Monster.

--DKH




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Ronald Bog: the eagle and the otter

Thursday, December 23, 2021

 
Photo by Martin DeGrazia

Checking in at Ronald Bog. 

Martin DeGrazia reports that "Two of my favorite visitors have come by in the last week. The eagle and the otter."

Photo by Martin DeGrazia

Your editor keeps wanting to sing "The Holly and the Ivy." Maybe someone can write new words to the song.

Thank you Susan Prince for this poem!

Sung to the tune of, "The Holly and the Ivy"

The eagle and the otter,
Made their presence known.
Of all the creatures in the bog,
the eagle bears the crown.

Anyone else?


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