Happy Halloween!

Today is Halloween and Topsie and I dressed up as Bonnie and Clyde. Tinkerbelle took us trick-or-treating at the Clubhouse for doggie treats. We don't get to go to the Clubhouse often so we had an especially good time mixing and mingling with all the other dogs who stopped by for treats. A fun time was had by all.

A mysterious tapping

A tiny bird on the far edge of a branch

A Downy woodpecker

We were at my favorite park this morning finishing up our walk, when we heard the

It dipped into a hole in the branch

mysterious tapping. It was a series of steady rhythmic taps ... tap-tap-tap pause tap-tap-tap pause.  We looked around and up in the trees but saw nothing.  "It's coming from this direction," I said to Tinkerbelle as I headed toward a patch of trees.  We followed the sound, but even then we saw nothing. We were about to turn back when all of a sudden, there it was...a tiny bird on the far edge of a long branch.  "It looks like a woodpecker," said Tinkerbelle following my gaze up the tree. White and black with a red patch on the top of its head, we later identified it as a Downy woodpecker. As we watched, in between tappings, it dipped in and out of a hole in the branch. "Culprit located and mystery solved!" I exclaimed as we set off  for home and breakfast.

High tide at last

It had been raining steadily for the past few days.  With the ground soggy and the trail muddy, our walks had been short and confined to the courtyard. But today, the rain finally let up and we went down to check on the pond.  With very little rain all summer long, the water level in the pond had dropped dramatically exposing wide patches of the muddy bottom. The recent rains, we hoped, would fill up the pond. As we approached the pond, happy chuffing sounds from the ducks floated towards us. And, to our relief, we saw that the pond was full once again.  The rains had raised the water level and the ducks had reclaimed their domain. All is well at the pond once more.

The water level had returned to normal

The hidey hole

Of all the rocks that lie along the stream, there is one that stands out.  Its a large flat rock that rests next to the water's edge where the steam is at its widest.  It is a great deal larger than the surrounding rocks and its broad flat surface always draws my gaze as though expecting to see someone or something perched upon it.  I never have.  But, the other day Tinkerbelle, Topsie and I did see something crawl out from under it.  In the smallest and quickest of movements, something darted out from the rock as we walked by. We stopped and squinted across the stream barely making out the diminutive form of a chipmunk.   Perhaps it had heard us walk by and came out to investigate.  It stood still just next to the rock before darting back. Probably safest under the rock with the hawks around, I thought, as I led the pack home.

A diminutive chipmunk emerged from the rock

A large flat rock rests next to the water's edge