As seen by the BirdCam

Birds by day...

Junco and box of heather

Sparrow and cowslips, just opening.

And sometimes a coon by night ...

Just passing through.

And with every batch of photos, a few shots of my bare feet. But I'll spare you those.

Too funny! Raccoon fishing.

Last time I collected seaweed for my aquarium, I had too much for one fill, and it was in excellent condition. So I saved half in a bowl of clean seawater. I've been keeping it on a shelf outside, covered with cheesecloth to keep out bugs and maple leaves. Two days ago, I moved it down to a spot where it would get more light.

A few minutes ago, while I was working late (de-spider-webbing photos of a bug for the blog) I heard a suspicious "clunk" outside. I went to the door, and a raccoon was fishing in the bowl of seaweed. He ran away when he saw me, but couldn't resist the lure of possible sea creatures. Hermits! Clams! Snails! Even fishies, maybe! He hung around the end of the walk, waiting for me to leave. I hid behind the drapes. And back he came.

Tip-toeing in.

Fishing. That was clean water! Now it's mud.

He sloshed the water around several times, pulled out a piece of sea lettuce and nibbled on it, put a paw in again and searched some more. (I notice that he's right-handed. He used two hands sometimes, but never the left alone.)

Finally, having muddied the water thoroughly and torn up my seaweed without finding any critters, he gave up.

"Where's my food? Did you eat it? Please! Share, ok?"

And since I had nothing to offer, he slouched off dejectedly.