Blackberry season

The Stolen Child

by WB Yeats

1886

Where dips the rocky highland

Of Sleuth Wood in the lake,

There lies a leafy island

Where flapping herons wake

The drowsy water rats;

There we've hid our faery vats

Full of berrys

And of the reddest stolen cherries.

Come away, O human child!

To the waters and the wild

With a faery, hand in hand,

For the world's more full of weeping that you can understand.

Desmond

Our recent guest, Duncan K., was on the beach watching this eagle. (Without his camera.) He watched for some time and then decided he would climb the path inn and get the camera. (The path includes over 140 steps.) He returned with the camera to find the eagle still waiting. (And was able to control his breathing enough to get the picture.) We are calling this eagle Desmond, after Norma Desmond from the film Sunset Boulevard. ("Alright Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close up.")

Slugs on the path

Our friend Tom (who is getting married Saturday to Judy - best wishes to you both - we wish we could be there) was fascinated with our slugs. It turns out he is not alone. Thanks to recent guest Brent Van Hooft for these photos.

Eagles in the Sky

Thank you to Jim Grubbs and Brent Van Hooft for the images of one of the resident eagles.

I think we have the makings of an Ocean Wilderness Inn children's story with the last few posts: bear on the beach, seals in the sea and eagles in the sky...

Seals in the Sea

Recent images taken by our guest Brent Van Hooft.

Bear on the Beach

Objects in the photo may be closer than they appear.

One of our recent guests, G.A. Palmer from Jackson Mississippi, got a great shot of one of the locals on "our" beach. For those of you in-the-know, it was just a short distance from "the chairs".

BC's Bird

One of our recent guests, Glenn Olson, Vice President Executive Director of Audubon California donated his copy of The Sibley Guide to Birds to the inn and encouraged us to start a bird list. Above is one of the first birds we saw at Ocean Wilderness Inn, the Stellar's Jay (photo courtesy of Nature's Pics). It is the provincial bird of British Columbia. We were told that each winter the jays try to migrate, get 1/2 way across the Strait of Juan de Fuca and then turn back. Likely the story is untrue (Sibley's is silent on the topic), but still charming.