We’ll have a short RWP today as I’m busy and putting these together takes a bit of time. But the photos are unusual. The first is from reader Bonnie Luntzel:
Not sure if these count for wildlife pictures (as the salmon are deceased) but I found these to be rather lovely and thought I would share.They are Chum Salmon [Oncorhynchus keta] found on the banks of a creek in the South Puget Sound area of Washington State. The last of the run was in January, and these pictures are from February 28th.
And reader Kristen Wells got a surprise at her window:
The attached picture is of a Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) that was sitting on the ledge outside of my window at work. It’s probably too hard to see in the picture but he (?) had a pigeon in his talons. He spent a few minutes on the ledge and then flew off with his dinner.
Re the Hawk and it’s dinner, a few years back i was washing up in my kitchen and i saw a Sparrrowhawk with a Collared dove on the patio just outside the window .
Managed to get a few photos ,they were through a net curtain so they are a bit hazy .
The salmon skeletons have a macabre beauty.
I thought the first one was a fossil fish.
It was trying to get there but died en route ?
Salmon runs contribute significantly to the nutrient cycle along rivers. Animals that eat the fish scatter their feces nearby. Rotting carcass fertilize the water and shores. Waste not, want not.