A few pictures of Eastern Washington State...

[Carolla]

nlnelson: We were pretty much neighbors! I live an hour west and half hour south of Spokane.

Cattan: The serenity of the land here is one of the things that I enjoy here, very restful. It is a subtle beauty, not lush, only green when its watered or in the spring, the vast wheat fields and open skies and the gently rolling land, the interesting rock formations and occasional surprise of a river or waterfalls.

[zainal abidin]

Wow so many wonderful photos I love the first photo the sun ray very clear and visible so sweet, and you managed to capture well the rainbow in the waterfall..cool, in that landscapes what kind of native animals/birds always can be seen from your house? thanks for sharing.

[angel]

you live in a lovely place and that waterfall is grand!
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[Carolla]

Well, our dogs are out barking at the white tailed deer just outside our yard and the wild turkeys get them going too! These live right in town with us, our town is about 200 people. Our neighbor has about an acre and planted it in a forest - some ornamental trees, but mostly pines, spruce, some oak, maples, sumac. It's very nice and brings in lots of birds and wildlife. Our town is also like an oasis in the dryland and brings in a lot of unusual migratory birds, bird watchers come sometimes to see them.

We normally get Gold Finches, House Finches, House Sparrows, Warblers, Phoebes, Kingbirds, Magpies, Ravens, Purple finches, Vireos, Nuthatches, Chickadees, Varied Thrush, Robins, Red Tailed Hawks, Golden Eagles (passing through), Swainsons Hawks, Rough Legged Hawks, Merlin, Harriers, Turkey Vultures, Great Horned Owls, Burrowing Owls, Barn Swallows, Cliff Swallows, Blackbirds, Cowbirds, Starlings, Morning Doves, Pigeons, Anna's Hummingbird, Calliope Hummingbird and California Quail. Well, that's a start anyway! I've seen a lot of birds in the 30 years we've lived near or in this town. We saw a Cooper's Hawk come take a finch off our bird feeder a few years ago, its the only one I've seen here though. We had some 20 pelicans live on that river next to where we gathered rocks for a couple of summers, I guess they do that every so often. (We are 60 north of the Columbia River, a major water source and huge navigable river that goes across much of our State.)

We have the white tailed deer in huge numbers out in the fields around town and a population here in town too. We also have rock chucks, skunks, rabbits, coyotes, porcupines, rattlesnakes (though usually in the rocky hills, haven't had one near our house!), tons of interesting insects, and bats.

The wild turkeys are in our garden under our apple tree and the larger flock down the alley in front of our house, this was taken a few years ago. The rock chuck (also known as the yellow-bellied marmot) was taken at Palouse Falls.

[ORCHIDJOE]

Beautifull picture of a superb landscape unspoilt. Love it,
Joe

[zainal abidin]

Well, our dogs are out barking at the white tailed deer just outside our yard and the wild turkeys get them going too! These live right in town with us, our town is about 200 people. Our neighbor has about an acre and planted it in a forest - some ornamental trees, but mostly pines, spruce, some oak, maples, sumac. It's very nice and brings in lots of birds and wildlife. Our town is also like an oasis in the dryland and brings in a lot of unusual migratory birds, bird watchers come sometimes to see them.

We normally get Gold Finches, House Finches, House Sparrows, Warblers, Phoebes, Kingbirds, Magpies, Ravens, Purple finches, Vireos, Nuthatches, Chickadees, Varied Thrush, Robins, Red Tailed Hawks, Golden Eagles (passing through), Swainsons Hawks, Rough Legged Hawks, Merlin, Harriers, Turkey Vultures, Great Horned Owls, Burrowing Owls, Barn Swallows, Cliff Swallows, Blackbirds, Cowbirds, Starlings, Morning Doves, Pigeons, Anna's Hummingbird, Calliope Hummingbird and California Quail. Well, that's a start anyway! I've seen a lot of birds in the 30 years we've lived near or in this town. We saw a Cooper's Hawk come take a finch off our bird feeder a few years ago, its the only one I've seen here though. We had some 20 pelicans live on that river next to where we gathered rocks for a couple of summers, I guess they do that every so often. (We are 60 north of the Columbia River, a major water source and huge navigable river that goes across much of our State.)

We have the white tailed deer in huge numbers out in the fields around town and a population here in town too. We also have rock chucks, skunks, rabbits, coyotes, porcupines, rattlesnakes (though usually in the rocky hills, haven't had one near our house!), tons of interesting insects, and bats.

The wild turkeys are in our garden under our apple tree and the larger flock down the alley in front of our house, this was taken a few years ago. The rock chuck (also known as the yellow-bellied marmot) was taken at Palouse Falls.

I would say you are leaving in awesome atmosphere surrounding by native animals and beautiful birds I cant imagine during spring the landscapes totally change into wonderful view, thanks Carolla for the info and additional photos.

[Carolla]

I forget sometimes how different our landscapes are from the norm. I've lived in this area for 30 years now, it seems the norm to me. I loved it when we rented a farmhouse 10 miles out from the town. It was on top of the rolling hills in the wheat. You could see for miles and the skies were amazing. We'd lay out at night and look at the Milky Way, you could see a lightning storm that was miles away, while it was clear where we were. So quiet, so peaceful. It was like my heart could just sink into the ground and rest. I was sad when our landlord wanted the old farmhouse for his son, but glad we ended up in the house we own now.

This was a great place to raise our two kids, though they are grown now and we are grandparents. It's a good place for my husband's elderly mother to live for now too. We may move to the Spokane area in a couple of years when Paul retires and downsize a little. I'd like to be closer to our family and to shopping and medical care as we age and his mother might start to need it. As it is now, we travel 70 miles to a real grocery store and do most of our shopping once a month. It's a very different way to live from most of the people I know. I like having plants and animals to keep me company. I talk to my orchids every day! And our two dogs and our four cats and the tropical fish tank and the 17 ducks we keep for eggs and pets!

[orchidsal]

Great photos Carol! I am rather impressed with all the wildlife in your area. AL

[Carolla]

That's about all the life around here! lol Actually I quite like it, though our two dogs do go a bit crazy when the deer stand on the rise about 50' from our yard and wag their ears and ignore the poor doggies! They bark and bark and the deer just don't care. Not fair!

[catttan]

I love all the pictures showing the localities where our members come from. I am sure that many of us are not only interested in orchids per se but also in orchids in situ, their natural habitats; our members and their families and the countries where they live. Thanks for the pictures, Carol - at least now I know more than just Washington Red.