A few photos working through the learning curve

The first butterfly of the summer. April 2008

View of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.. wayyy out there past the logs!

Not a clue - but they were cool to look at!

Fushia

Roadie starting to bloom - finally!

My 2008 Easter Lilly

Mixed blooms

Again, out in the yard.. first blooms of the 2008 spring.

I call this one, 'Covered Pansies'

I found a caterpillar hanging around

I loved the details that I was able to capture -

Heads or tails???

Moss!

More Moss

Close-up of Moss

Sneaky Snake Goes Dancing!

Dale Chihuly Glass:

Mushroom from the yard:

Tulip:

Tulipa commonly called Tulip is a genus of about 100 species of bulbous flowering plants in the family Liliaceae. The native range of the species includes southern Europe, north Africa, and Asia from Anatolia and Iran in the east to northeast of China. The centre of diversity of the genus is in the Pamir and Hindu Kush mountains and the steppes of Kazakhstan. A number of species and many hybrid cultivars are grown in gardens, used as pot plants or as fresh cut flowers.

Osprey:

The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), also known colloquially as seahawk, fish hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching 60 centimetres (24 in) in length with a 1.8 metre (6 ft) wingspan. It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly whitish on the head and underparts, with a brownish eyepatch and wings.

The Osprey tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. It is found on all continents except Antarctica although in South America it occurs only as a non-breeding migrant.

As its other common names suggest, the Osprey's diet consists almost exclusively of fish. It has evolved specialised physical characteristics and exhibits some unique behaviours to assist in hunting and catching prey. As a result of these unique characteristics, it has been given its own taxonomic genus, Pandion and family, Pandionidae. Four subspecies are usually recognised. Despite its propensity to nest near water, the Osprey is not a sea-eagle.

Steller's Jay:

The Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) is a jay native to western North America, closely related to the Blue Jay found in the rest of the continent, but with a black head and upper body. It is also known as the Long-crested Jay, the Mountain Jay, and the Pine Jay. It is the only crested jay west of the Rocky Mountains.

The Steller's Jay shows a great deal of regional variation throughout its range. Blackish-brown-headed birds from the north gradually become bluer-headed farther south. The Steller's Jay has a more slender bill and longer legs than the Blue Jay and has a much more pronounced crest. The head is blackish-brown with light blue streaks on the forehead. This dark colouring gives way from the shoulders and lower breast to silvery blue. The primaries and tail are a rich blue with darker barring.

It occurs over virtually the whole of the western side of North America from Alaska in the north to Central America in the far south and east to south-western Texas, completely replacing the Blue Jay in most of those areas. Some hybridization with the Blue Jay in Colorado has been reported. The Steller's Jay lives in coniferous and mixed woodland, but not in completely dense forest, and requires open space. It typically lives in flocks of greater than 10 individuals.

Squirrel:

A squirrel is any one of the many small or medium-sized rodents in the family Sciuridae. In the English-speaking world, "squirrel" commonly refers to members of this family's genera Sciurus and Tamiasciurus, which are tree squirrels with large bushy tails

Deer:

White-tailed deer are generalists and can adapt to a wide variety of habitats. Although most often thought of as forest animals depending on relatively small openings and edges

What you see here is the last of the herd in Puyallup.

There is a doe, a yearling and a fawn.

Raccoon:

The Raccoon (Procyon lotor), also known as the Northern Raccoon, Common Raccoon, Washing Bear or Coon, is a widespread, medium-sized, omnivorous mammal native to North America. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, they have also been widespread on the European mainland and in the Caucasus region, after having escaped from fur farms.^[1]^[2] Raccoons usually live together in small, loose groups. Their original habitats are mixed or deciduous forests, but due to their adaptability, they are often found in urban areas where they can be considered pests.