The Westlake Pirates

We've had an impressive amount of wildlife on the docks, considering how disturbed the natural layout of the lake is. As mentioned previously there's now a bald eagle in the neighborhood, who is apparently hunting the coho salmon which are running right now. There was a two-foot salmon dead in the marina yesterday, and where there's one we're sure to smell more in the next few days. There are also lots of small samon fry in the marina, swimming around in small schools between the boats.

There have also been a clutch of eight baby mallards that have frequented the marina for the past month, growing rapidly and making quite the ruckus whenever they get separated. They're almost as large as their mother now, and likely to be off fledgling in the next few weeks.

The garden has attracted the usual suspects - bees, aphids (argh!), ladybugs, and ants, but it has also drawn some big, beautiful painted-wing dragonflies and their smaller plain-winged cousins (as pictured above.) They're tough to get a good picture of because they're almost always flitting to-and-fro, resting on plants for just a moment before continuing onward.

The glut of big, beautiful blooms is nearly at its end, but the tomatoes, sunflowers, and wildflowers will continue to draw some wildlife as summer progresses. If any eagles catch fish which caught dragonflies which ate aphids in the marina, we'll be sure to let you know.