I decided to try something new. I joined a photowalk I found online that wandered a bit around the southern, more industrial section of Seattle. Since this part of town is south of the Seattle Kingdome, the sports arena for the Mariners and Seahawks, it is commonly refered to as SoDo (south of the dome).
On a warm day this looks quite inviting. However, let me warn you. A dip here is not for the feint of heart. This is very cold mountain water flowing here.
The beauty of the rose flower and the threat of the rose thorn always come together.
After lots of eagles and herons eating fish, I thought you'd enjoy a few days of color from local places in Snohomish. These are some of the flowers from around our neighborhood in the spring of '24.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we live in a temperate rainforest. The near constant rain from November to May or June, means that everything from the roofs of houses to the limbs on trees are upholstered with moss and lichen, and the understory is carpeted with ferns.
Our friend from the last posting that seemed in a hurry to escape from a raven, was not actually the goal of the raven's flight. He was just passing through. Yet, the eagle still seemed pissed that he has to deal with the interloper at all.
Circling for a landing, this eagle is eyeing a good spot for lunch. Apparently, the service is pretty good and the price is right.
We see our pugilistic friends in the background as the local stakeholders sit and watch, "ain't none of my business!".
Eagles, like all other wild animals, work hard for a living. As these birds approach maturity, their battle wounds begin to show.
Perhaps because the fish are more active, the eagles got more active as the day went on.
The herons have found a place that suits their hunting style and their apparent desires to pose for the camera.
There are plenty of hungry birds out here and many are quite successful fishers.
It is not surprising that the herons, with their long bills, are successful fishers.
The roadway by which I stand crosses the stream that all the birds are focused on. On one side is the Hood Canal and on the other is a small pool that the herons seem to like quite alot for their fishing endeavors. the fellow above is using his wings to shade the water’s surface so he can see the fishes underwater better.
My first eagle in flight on this trip. It is not terribly sharp, but it is start.
ONe almost gets the feeling that this eagle is trying to stare me down. However, I am standing on the verge of the road with dozens of other photographers and traffic that keeps going by. I’m pretty sure there are other things besides me, trying to stand still and quite, for him/her to be checking out.
I certainly would not want to meet this guy in a dark alley. Or a lit one either.
This fellow sweem to have caught a large fish of some sort and put on the beach to eat at his leisure.Notice that the beach here, like much fo the beach around here is covered in shells.
Every spring, there is a small fish called a midshipman that breeds in the Big Beef Creek near Seabeck WA. This is on the Kitsap peninsula where the creek empties into the Hood Canal. In May-June each year these fish move from the creek into the canal and this requires that they swim through some shallow water along the entrance to the tidal canal. This in turn, attracts hungry birds, especially bald eagles.
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Not far south of Seaside is the popular Cannon Beach. It is famous for the sea stacks and the sandy beach. The town is a real tourist attraction with all the trappings.
Sometings in the course of an intricate and delicate construction phase, it is necessary to have more than two or three hands to insure success. In such cases, both feet are used to stabilize the foundation.
And now for something completely different.
Last April, the family headed south to the coast of Oregon for a little beach time in sunny Seaside. Above, you see Charlie preparing to see if China really is at the antipodes.
So at last we have come to the end of our trip and the final images. It has taken a long time to post the whole trip and I hope everyone enjoyed it. We certainly had a good time.
Much of what the land iguana eat is prickly pear cactus. They grow to great size on these islands and provide shade as well as food for those stuck on the ground.
First, let me apologize for my tardiness in getting post us lately. This week is a new problem. I have changed browsers and it does not seem to work with blogger so I have resorted to the old tried-and-true to get this done while I sort out how to make this all work with the new one. Now, on to the interesting stuff...
These male frigatebirds are really something with their gular pouches all inflated to the max while sitting on the nest. You can just tell he is really proud.
We saw earlier the deflated gular sac on the male frigatebird whose egg was lost. Here, we see the proud puffing of a father to be.
And so, we leave the iguana to enjoy the rest in the shade while we continue with our explorations of the frigate birds.
While dad flies about looking all manly and the like, mom sits on/near the nest looking all domestic and everything.
Although there are other islands not far away, as you can see in several of the photos (including this one), North Seymour island is only about ¾ of a square mile in size. This is a mighty exposed place to imagine rearing young. Yet they do it and have done it since time immemorial.
From this close-up of the female frigatebird, you can see that they are not so dull in appearance as first looks suggest. She has a interesting combination of a blueish beak and golden head feathers along with ghostly white feet.
After leaving Isabels Island and going back to Santa Cristóbal Island, we had one more day of exploration. This involved a boat ride to North Seymour Island. Here, we got to see a jumping lava lizard and lots of frigatebirds.
Unsurprisingly, we find a medium ground finch perched atop a cactus.
It probably seems odd that we are taking walk to see the wetland and I start with photo of a cactus. Yet, here we are.
From the one photo above, it can be hard to tell just what this booby is doing. Is he landing (badly) or taking-off? Turns out, this is a launch from sitting in the water.
