Eagles, Herons, and more

My first eagle in flight on this trip. It is not terribly sharp, but it is start.

An Eagle Posing for the Camera

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.

Getting Serious about that Last Morsel

I certainly would not want to meet this guy in a dark alley. Or a lit one either.

Picnic on th Beach

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.

Lots of Eagles!

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.

Seaweed, Rocks, and Pools of Water

When we visited Cannon Beach, the tide was out and much of the shallow sea life was laid bare. There are rocks with seaweed exposed on them and small crustaceans found int the pools.

Cannon Beach

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.

Construction and a Bathe

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.

More Kites

The great thing about the sea breeze is that it is constant in direction and speed. This makes managing a kite a delight.

KItes

With a stiff breeze about, kites were in order.

Seaside, Oregon

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.

A Last View of the Galapagos

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.

Frigatebirds

 

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.

Frigatebirds

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.

Boobies

As you can tell, we not especially close to the bids. This makes it hard to always tell if they are scratching or if it part of the mating ritual. I suspect that this was just a scratch.

Frigatebirds and Boobies

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.

Iguana and Frigate Birds

And so, we leave the iguana to enjoy the rest in the shade while we continue with our explorations of the frigate birds.

Lava Lizards and Land Iguana

If this lava lizard looks hot...well it was. That's one of the things I really liked about our visit to the islands. I finally got warm through and through.

Frigatebirds and Iguana

While dad flies about looking all manly and the like, mom sits on/near the nest looking all domestic and everything.

Great Frigatebird, Land Iguana, and Lava Lizards

The male frigatebirds perch like this near their nest to rest. I am not sure, but I believe the feathers are raised and fluffy near the neck to give the bird some ventilation while resting in the hot sun.

Frigatebirds in Flight

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.

Frigatebirds and Boobies

A female frigatebird sits on a limb near her nest.

Frigatebirds

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.

Leaping Lizards and Frigatebirds

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.

The Striated Heron

Lurking among the mangrove roots, this heron is busy searching for a meal.

Marine Iguana, Brown Pelican, and Striated Heron

I continue to be fascinated by the appearance of these iguana. Skin like armour, clawed feet, and that ridge of spines allong the back. So cool.

A Finch, an Iguana, and a Warbler

Unsurprisingly, we find a medium ground finch perched atop a cactus.

Into the Wetlands

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.

A Booby and Pelicans

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.