Edited to add: Originally, I posted the location of where we hiked to see the Snowy Owls. It’s fairly common knowledge around Washington, but I suffered post-blogging pangs about revealing the location of a popular species like a Snowy Owl. After chatting with a wildlife photographer I dearly respect, I’ve decided to remove those references….
[Northern] Flickering
I believe this interaction was a territorial display between two Northern Flickers. Their routine was on a continuous loop for about five minutes, performed on utility cables strung across our view of the city. Aggressive displays such as “bill directing” or “bill poking” are used by flickers. That is, a flicker may point his bill…
10,000 Crows and Counting
This is what it looks (and feels) like when you’re standing under 10,000+ crows, coming home to roost. I shot the video well after dusk, so I had to crank exposure up in iMovie, causing pixel issues. Still … you’ll get the idea. This occurs every dusk in Bothell, Washington, when crows from Seattle, Snohomish…
A Makeshift Hummingbird Feeder Heater
Heating hummingbird feeders was a new thing for me after moving to Seattle. Here, Anna’s Hummingbirds stay through the winter, and although the cold months are relatively temperate, there are enough freezing mornings when nectar turns into slush or ice. My first go-round with enabling the local hummingbirds came our first winter with Mr. Hummingway….
Swifty Monroe
It doesn’t just happen in Monroe … but we took a spontaneous trip to Monroe where it does happen. Vaux’s Swifts, up and down their migration corridor, appropriate chimneys for their nightly roosting ritual. In the Bay Area, the Healdsburg swift event was one of those things I’d always meant to attend but never did….
Steam as Bird Backdrop
My affection for wildlife in urban and industrial settings brings me the subject of steam. There are obviously a lot of distracting elements in urban photography. Although I lean toward a photojournalistic style of realism when I encounter them, I also find it challenging to show the grit of these scenes while retaining some aesthetic…
Lake Union House + Boats
Photograph: Panasonic TZ5 (point and shoot), 15sec, f3.3, ISO100 On a Seattle night, with stars cloaked in stratocumlus clouds, when the only sight is a wisp of a rowing scull slithering under the University Bridge, the houseboats sit reflected and polished in the waters of Lake Union. I shot this near Eastlake, on Portage Bay,…
Osprey: From Pairing to Fledging
There are three Osprey nests within three miles of our place … one is a pile of branches, marine rope and police tape, layered on a new platform over Commodore Park. The platform was built after Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) removed an ages-old nest on an even older communications tower on a railroad bridge….
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…
Seattle Sky Electric
:: They’re tendrils of light, wicked with amperes, coulombs and megajoules … :: A vision in voltage that sparked my night and then my morning, :: Cracking the sky into pieces until it murmured, then crumbled into a cup of reverie. I was awake for this 2am electrical storm over Seattle … one that didn’t…
