The one that got away

It's the salmon season and this time of year we hear lots of stories about "the one that got away".  However, in this case, I'm not talking about a fish.  The one that got away was our only ripe tomato.  Growing tomatoes on the Oregon coast is dicey, because our night time temperatures are too chilly.  (The daytime temperatures are pretty cool as well, during summer.)  At any rate, I had been admiring the tomato as it ripened.  I even took a photo of it last week.  A few days ago, I went out to pick it, and was quite surprised to find that it had already been picked, probably by a raccoon.


And for those of you expecting a fishing story:  the salmon rarely get away up here.

For the birds

Throughout the year, I put out a feeder filled with sunflower seeds, to encourage songbirds to visit the yard.  The goldfinches of summer seem to have flown south, but our resident birds still stop by to grab a bite.

Today's guest of honor at the feeder was a red-breasted nuthatch. He made so many trips to the feeder that I grabbed a camera and caught some of his returns.