This is my annual post — on the eve of waterfowl hunting season in both Washington (where I’m living now) and California (my home). It recounts a waterfowl hunt I encountered unexpectedly in the Sacramento Delta area of Northern California. I’ve been lightly tweaking the post each year, adding either a few new details or…
Studies in Godwit
Every so often, I get a request for ‘derivative works’ permission — usually from a wildlife artist who wants to use a photo as the foundation for a painting or print. I particularly love it when the work is used to benefit an animal cause … like this painting of a Brown Pelican I photographed…
Bird Rescue, Fishing Gear & Existential Inquiries
This post is (or will be) a rambling confluence of a few different stories. Back in June, I posted about a Brown Pelican I saw flying over Bolsa Chica at dusk. I photographed the bird in silhouette as it trailed a triple-hook fishing lure from its pouch. I obviously have no way of knowing what…
The Deafening Sound of Man
My title here derives from a quote in this article about Dr. Bernie Krause: “A great silence is spreading over the natural world even as the sound of man is becoming deafening. Little by little the vast orchestra of life, the chorus of the natural world, is in the process of being quietened. There has…
Sea Lions, Salmon & Seal Bombs
Note: Taking into account my title … no sea lions were harmed in the deployment of these “seal bombs.” There is, however, one dead salmon — a sea lion’s meal. I’m a relatively new witness to the conflicts in the Pacific Northwest between humans, sea lions, salmon, tribes, dams, fish ladders, and fisher people. As…
What We Are …
The post title derives from a Flickr friend who wrote this comment below my photo: “A sobering reminder of what we are . . .” I will add that what we are doesn’t necessarily foretell what we become. 🙂 Against a scrim of Northwestern mist, the barge SeaLink Rigger chugs toward a scrap metal yard…
The Hook-and-Plastic Club for Birds
Edited on 6/12/12 to add a few links and resources. This was my last shot of the night. Under a California sky, I saw my favorite silhouettes on approach … those pterodactyl forms, Brown Pelicans, gliding past the fallen sun. Knowing I would get just the barest outline of a pelican, I raised my lens…
Sky Lanterns … and Tangential Links to Wildlife
If you stretch it, there’s a wildlife tie-in with just about every human contrivance. But in this case, I was actually avoiding wildlife connections — taking a break from the stress of nestlings, fledglings, entanglements and predation. My goal was moonrise over the Space Needle … a moonrise scheduled for 11pm. As luck would have…
A Closer Look … for Birds in Trouble
This post contains one image of a long-deceased gull, just FYI. You’d think I would have learned my lesson last year, with the dead gull I found wrapped around a deterrent wire on a nearby warehouse … or the gulls we untangled last fall from a fish-pen net. But, in fairness, this location was difficult…
Steelhead Youth
Puget Sound steelhead travel through the Ballard Locks at a fraction of their glory-day numbers. According to this post at the Friends of the Ballard Locks blog, two to three thousand steelhead used to migrate through the locks. Now, if visitors see just one steelhead looking back at them through the window, they’re lucky. A…
