Hooded Merganser

As we were leaving the beach and walking back to the car, we passed a bit of water where a couple Hooded Mergansers were diving and looking for food.

Seagulls at the Beach

In a backwater pool there is a spot that the seagulls really seem to like. They congregate there and appear to be bathing. I have no idea why this one spot is so interesting. Maybe it is shallow, making it easier to wash or maybe it is just a fun place to be.

Where the Elwha River Meets the Ocean

On a lightly raining day, we visited the beach where the Elwha River runs in the Juan de Fuca Strait. It is a quiet place with birds (more on them in the future), a rocky beach, and some wooded wetlands surrounding it all.

Port Angeles - Just a Bit More

Lest you come away with the notion that Port Angeles is all about being an animal sanctuary, here is a little of the working life on the water.

Well, that's a New Wrinkle...

 

Our nextdoor neighbor here in Sequim took this image with their modest resolution camera connected to a motion detector. What you see here is a pretty large mountain lion. Yes, in the neighborhood that I get up and run every morning while it is dark out, there is a cat as big as me out walking about.

Looks like my predawn days of wandering up and down the road are over. E says she will take me into town so I run on proper city streets in the mornings. That's about 8 miles from here so I should be safe. Besides, I'm sure that E will be shadowing me in the car to be sure.

Just letting everyone know that Washington is a weird and dangerous place. Ain't life grand?! Don't get these adventures in London or Budapest. 

Life is a constant surprise. Enjoy.

Port Angeles - Harbor Seals

Part of the port at Port Angeles is separated by what seems to be an intentional barrier or logs. On these logs is a colony of harbor seals basking in the eternal grey of overcast skies.

Port Angeles - A Few Birds

We ventured out to Port Angeles to have a look about. We drove out on the long sandbar that forms the breakwater for the port. It is called Ediz Hook and is home to the Ediz Hook Reservation for Native Birds (in addition to a non-negligible amount of industrial sites on either end.

Above is a Golden Eye stretching his wings.

Here's All the NANPA 2021 Winners

All the winners in the NANPA 2021 Showcase have finally been announced. Since today's post is all about photos, I'm not posting one of my (although one is buried in there) at the top. No reason to.

I thought that for Christmas day we'd take a laid back approach to this and simply present you with access to all this wonderful images. Enjoy them all and have a Merry Christmas.

The top 250 winners

The top 100 winners

The top 24 winners

Who knows, maybe one day, I'll make it to the top 24.

Dungeness Cemetery - III

This cemetery has its share of the unique gravestones. This one shaped like a tree is complete with ferns at the bottom.

Dungeness Cemetery - II

After seeing what you can see from the Dungeness Cemetery, here's a look at what you can see in in the cemetery.

Dungeness Cemetery

One of my recurring complaints about Snohomish is that there is no clear high ground from which to view the Cascades. Here, we found the solution to the problem at the Dungeness Cemetery. Where better to spend eternity than on a bluff with this view of the Olympic mountains. While Sequim (and Dungeness) are in a "rain shadow", as it is called here, that doesn't mean there aren't clouds, fog, and rain. It just means there is less rain. The annual rainfall here about 19 inches. In Seattle it is closer to 40 inches. on the Pacific side of the Olympics at the Hoh rainforest it is about 120 inches. So, yeah, we're in a rain shadow in spite of what you see here.

A Few Birds

Out by the sea we find an Heron resting on a limb. Between the red berries and the particolored lichens on the dead tree, the bird almost feels like an afterthought.

Cline Spit County Park

With a little hint of sunshine, we ventured out to Dungeness. This is a coastal settlement between Sequim and the Juan de Fuca Strait. Near the Dungeness Wildlife Reserve there extends a long sandbar out to a larger spit of sand on which a lighthouse is built. The Cline Spit County Park sits on the coast looking out at this long sandbar and lighthouse. We came here looking for birds and maybe an image of the lighthouse.

A Slow and Gentle Restart

A week ago we began our first steps toward a very modest restart of our house sitting. We've take a sit in Sequim (rhymes with swim) for a few weeks. On our way here, we stopped in Port Gamble again for a quick look about. We visited the general store to see if there was anything we could not live without.

Under the Trees and on the Bushes

These three mushrooms, standing in a forest of moss with logs of evergreen tree leaves(?), make a fantasy land that I would like to walk into and explore. I'm quite sure, however, that were I resized to the right scale for this adventure something unexpected would try to eat me. It's be like a '50's B horror movie all over again. 

At the Base of a Tree is Another World

Sometimes people like to plant flowers at the base of a tree to add a little interest to the scene. In this case, there happen to still be a few late season flower left to add their grace and color.

Mostly Lichens

Some trees seem to be the favorites for lichens. This one above is home to several varieties of lichens.

Garden Scenes

With care, it is possible to find small scenes in some of our neighborhood front gardens that make good compositions.

Wet Trees and Bushes

Trees are certainly the best for for getting the lensing effect in the water drops. By letting the drop hang out in mid air, we can get a view of what's behind in the tiny lens it creates.

More Wet Things

Even in the off season, clover is worth a second look. The way it captures the rain and holds it on display for us to see recommends it for everyone's yard.

Wet and Wild

What is enjoy about water drops on plant stems is that often you can see them act as a tiny lens where the world is squeezed in and inverted.

Water, Water Everywhere

Lots of rain lately, so I thought I'd spend a little time trying to take advantage of this. Today we explore water on plants. Drops of water can make a leaf or twig worth a second look.

Creatures from the Past

Back in February  of '15, we had some snow in Staunton. I'm sure some of my gentle readers will remember this. I have no way of knowing if this squirrel remembers anything or not, but if she/he does, then he remembers this.

Sunrise over the Cascades

 

As many of our dead readers know, one of our jobs while at home is to take the grandchildren to daycare in the mornings. In the winter, which we have mostly avoided until this year for some reason, it is a dreary business. It is dark and the sky is overcast. On this day, we were running a bit later and the sun was just coming up.

A Mix of Fall and Summer Colors

It is still possible to find colors you only expect to see in spring and summer here.To be sure, these are not the colors of tulips or some luch double-blossom os some sort. Now they are found in the small plants that are usually only green.

A Quick Look About

Just a few items today to report. In spite of the fact that we've had a few mornings with pretty heavy frost, there are still plants blooming. I'm surprised by this. Back in the 'old country', once the frost hit, things were done for the season.

A Few More Phone Photos

I thought the regular geometry of this manhole cover was a nice design. Adding to it the long yellow-red shadows of the evening sun, and we get an interesting composition.

I Have a New Phone!

So. After I managed to send my phone on trip through the washer, I ordered a new one. My new iPhone 12 pro has arrived and with the last the evening sun, I'm out to see what this new-fangled camera system can do.

Ferguson Park

Adjacent to Blackman's Lake is Ferguson Park. It has a playground and lots of open space among the trees. The afternoon sun saw fit to illuminate a small section of this complicated tree.

By Blackman's Lake

I'm sure that many of you have seen the photos of the bushes with the bright red berries that I've published here and thought to yourself, "Gee, such great Christmas colors!". Well, others seem to have had this thought as well and took it one step further. Here we have holiday lights on one such bush.

Along the Cascade River

 

At Marblemount, the Cascade River joins the Skagit. We took the small road that follows the Cascade for a few miles to see what we could see (still looking for eagles wit).h no luck).

Along the Skagit River

We took a ride up to the Skagit valley to see if we could see any bald eagles. Short answer...no, we couldn't. But we did see some scenes that were worth a look. At Marblemount, the Skagit River takes a turn and this bridge crosses it. Underneath the bridge is a boat landing where I stood to take the shot.

The Altar on Which We Gave Our Thanks

Some of you who follow this blog have shared Thanksgiving with us and will recognise this table setting. I thought I'd share a few images of our table, our altar of thanks for this year.

Some Things are Timeless

A cake was baked for our Thanksgiving meal and of course the grand kids had to make sure the icing was not poisonous or anything.

My Christmas Present to Myself

We have installed a shed in which I can have a bit of space for my projects and tools. E is delighted to have all that stuff out of the bedroom. When Anna walked out to see it when it was all complete, she remarked that it seemed bigger on the inside than the outside. Thus, I've dubbed it the tardis since it also shares this remarkable property.

Preparing for Thanksgiving

So. We've reached the time of year to express our thanks. Thankfully, we actually have something to be thankful for. So far, we here on our little speck of the world are healthy and thriving. That's a big deal in these days of virus.

Time to Eat

November is being really wet and rainy and my photo excursion time is limited. After the brief afternoon of sunshine that allowed me to see the mountains and the Osprey Park the other day, it's been lots of rain. So I'm improvising and pointing my camera at things indoors. And this time of year, that means food.

Above is the toffee that E made. Ostensibly, this is to garnish the pumpkin mousse to be served with our Thanksgiving meal. Lots of pecans and chocolate.

Osprey Park

The town of Sultan is located where the Sultan River joins the Skykomish. Osprey Park is a pleasantly flat woodland along the shore of the Sultan with nice wide hiking trails.

By the time I got there, the sun was not far from being hidden behind the nearby hills on the opposite (western) shore. With a low light source, I could get an image of the moss on the trees that was backlit to accentuate nature's drapery.

The Cascade Mountains

After a week's worth of rain, we finally got some sunshine and I headed east to the small town of Sultan, just east of Monroe. While we've been getting rain, the mountains have been getting the season's first dusting of snow. This makes images of the Cascades much more interesting.

The Remains of the Daily Walk

Many bushes are now in transition between lots of color and mouldy black spots taking over.

Leaves and Berries

As the season progresses, the decay of the fallen leaves does as well. Yet there is still color to be seen amongst the ruins.

A Quick Visit to Lord Hill Park

After my visit to the Japanese Gulch in Mukilteo, I thought I'd make a short walk in Lord Hill Park (again) out between Snohomish and Monroe. This tree really puts me in the mind of an Ent out slowly wandering the forest and admonishing all us scurrying critters to "not be hasty".

Snow Geese

On down the road a ways, near Stanwood, we found a flock of Snow Geese. These are smaller, somewhat less graceful birds than the swans and the black on the wings make then easy to distinguish.

Tundra Swans, Mostly Flying

In the last post, I pointed out that these birds are white except for a little black. This is not entirely true. there is sometimes (although not here) visible a small yellow patch next to the black on the beak and some slight rosey coloration on the top of the head (that you can see here). Just to avoid confusion.

The Whistling or Tundra Swan

Finally, we found a collection of our elusive prey, the Tundra or Whistling Swan. This birds make a nasal sort of honk that could be called a whistle if you are aren't picky about what you call a whistle.

The Fir-Conway Lutheran Cemetery

We happened upon a small cemetery during our jaunt about Skagit County and decided to stop in for a look about. Nothing special, but there are a few markers worth commenting on (and photographing).

Little Ivan Solver, above, had a short, hard life. 

A Few Memories in a Shop

 

We finally got out of the house for a little while and rode up to the Skagit Valley in search of birds. Along the way we stopped in the small town of Conway. It seems to be dominated by antiques/junk. One of the stores we went in had several interesting memories to see.

Out on the Prowl

I continue looking for things not yet noticed before. Some are neither pretty or entirely ugly...I'd say mostly curious. I don't know what this plant is, but it is curious indeed.

The Expected and Unexpected

Some things I find while out walking are perfectly expected. For example, these berries on a bush. Perhaps a bit less expected if the variation in color of the leaves on the same bush. Orange on one side and some combination of red and green producing a rich brown on the other.

Colors and Shapes

Along the route that I run in the morning (a section of the Centennial Trail), there are some evergreen bushes with late season flowers.