This is who we came to see in Beautiful British Columbia: And this is what drew our eyes upward … to the gossamer-draped mountains: All morning, the gulls traversed the valley in regiments. First one troop would cross, then another, then a third, their numbers interspersed with sudden flushes of Starlings from the trees (the…
Here He Comes to Save the Day …
This is part of my loosely-formed Coffee Break methodology. I take my coffee, my camera, and sit in my favorite spots. Sometimes things happen. Sometimes they don’t. Yesterday, this happened: :: First sign of trouble … Caspian Tern colony in Interbay flushes over the Magnolia Bridge … … signaling alerts. :: In the distance, over…
The Crow Patrol
Our apartment sits above Interbay in Seattle — what used to be a thriving salt marsh and tidal flat, replete with shellfish, marine life and waterfowl. It was a foraging ground for Native Americans of the Shilshole tribe, who made their home in present-day Ballard, just north of Interbay. At the turn of the century,…
Utility Pole Eagles
Back in the Bay Area, if someone had described to me a place where Bald Eagles huddled on every utility pole like pigeons or Starlings, I would have thought it must be Alaska … or somewhere along the Samuel Morse telegraph lines of the mid-1800s. I didn’t expect that just two hours north — through…
If You Build It, the Eagles Will Come
We barely saw this sub-adult Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), hunkered down and camouflaged, in a tree above the trail at Union Bay Natural Area. I shot a few frames right before the sun fell below Husky Stadium to the south. At full extension, the eagle was still quite small in the frame, and the aggressive…
Eagle Noir
I joke (but it’s true) that my best eagle and osprey in moments in the Northwest happen in silhouette. There’s the issue of light, and how low and flat it tends to be in the winter. There’s also the issue of my luck — where the light is perfect, I’m pointed in the right direction,…
Bald Eagles Wear the Pants
At the height of Bald Eagle season in Rockport and Marblemount, along the Skagit River, you’ll see dozens of eagles, lumbering across the sand bars, dragging and pillaging salmon carcasses. I like to say that birds like pigeons have jodhpurs — with flared plumes tapering into claws. Eagles, on the other hand, look like they’re…
Bald Eagle in the Backyard
This is a huge bonus of living in Seattle: the urban and suburban wildlife includes a multitude of Bald Eagles. This morning, Hugh went into our friends’ garden to fill up their bird feeder — a chore we both kind of enjoy. A huge contingent of birds descends right when our boots leave the scene…
