Last weekend I was looking through my spotting scope in the living room toward Port Townsend. In in the foreground along the spit I saw a big bald eagle perched on a piece of driftwood that was sticking up vertically.
A couple of days later I was bicycling along the spit when I got an idea.
On Wednesday I walked the length of the Keystone spit. As I started my walk along the spit I passed an old acquaintance of mine, the resident Blue Heron. It recognizes me as a familiar individual and allows me to walk past him just 20 feet away without any sign of alarm. He also recognizes me when I'm riding my bicycle allowing me to wiz by only 12 feet away as he forges for prey in a drainage channel right next to the road.
Hi Neighbor!
As I walked along the spit I implemented my idea to enhance the beach habitat for Herons and Eagles. Using the abundant driftwood I constructed four perches for large birds overlooking the steep gravel beach.
This is the Admiralty Head Lighthouse located just past the West end of Keystone Spit.
My motives are somewhat selfish since I can see all four perches from my living room half a mile away using the spotting scope. Going the extra mile I also installed a 12 foot high driftwood perch in my yard shaped like a question mark, in hopes that it will attract owls which sometimes perch on the ridge-line of my roof. Blue Herons and hawks are among the most common birds I see from my home, which sometimes makes me feel like I'm living in a luxury bird blind.