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Tag Archives: sunset

Fishing Familiar

Ken referred to this bird as his ‘familiar’. Most evenings when he was surf fishing in Florida, a Great Blue Heron would join Ken, waiting for a piece of bait or a small fish or some other tasty morsel. The bird was quite tame and would walk up to within five or six feet of Ken. It had obviously done this before with other anglers. It could tell when Ken caught a fish and it seemed disapproving when Ken was not having good luck.

The plumage on the heron was fascinating and easily studied at close range. I never before noticed the red feathers on the ‘elbows’ (do birds have elbows?) or the black streaking on the front of the neck and I’ve look at lots of Great Blue Herons over the years. The red feathers must be part of the wing coverts or possibly the alula.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bird would poke around to find his own food when fishing was slow

 

It took the catch to the water to rinse it before swallowing it whole

 

 

 

Shorebirds at Sunset

In Florida, every night after dinner, we would walk to the beach. Surprisingly most other beach goers were gone by then. Just before the moment when the sun went down, a few people would wander back and all facing the sun, would raise a glass in a toast to another day well lived. It was a wonderful ritual – maybe one that we should practice at home as well as on vacation.

Ken would fish and I would walk on the beach – hoping to find interesting sea shells and watching the birds. At Sanibel, no cars are allowed to drive on the beach and almost no one takes dogs to the beach and then they are on leashses for the most part. These two factors must contribute to the tameness of the birds. Shorebirds were remarkably approachable. It’s the only place I’ve been where I could get good photos of these migratory wonders.

I have always struggled with shorebird ID. Some of these birds were in a transistional plumage – going from winter to breeding plumage – this made ID even harder for me. Field guide pictures show one or ther other generally, not the transistion. I was surprised to see that many of the species on the SE coast were the same as in the Pacific NW.

 

Willets relfecting the warm light of the sun

 

 

 

 

A plover – Black-bellied or American Golden?

 

 

 

Brown Pelicans flew by the beach all the time.

 

And so did the shorebirds.

 

Ruddy Turnstone

 

 

Sanderlings

 

 

 

 

A gull. I don’t even try to identify immature gulls.

 

There’s a dowitcher in the middle of this group. Long-billed or Short-billed?

 

 

 

 

 

Lost Lake in the Okanogan Highlands

Ken and I had a nice getaway to Lost Lake in the Okanogan Highlands last weekend. While the weather was not perfect, it was never too cold or wet and we had a great time. A nice lady stayed with our dogs so we were able to kayak, fish, ride bikes and just have a relaxing time at this gem of a place. For me, it is sort of like ‘On Golden Pond’ with nesting loons, a quiet lake surrounded by forest, some camps, and a few cabins nestled along the edge.

Road Trip Day One

We got off to a late start on our honeymoon road trip on Tuesday the 24th. Once on the road we made good time, getting into Oregon, just across the Columbia for our first camp. As has been the trend this spring, it was colder than expected.

Methow Valley

One of the Methow crossings

 

The mouth of the Okanogan River

 

Chief Joseph Dam spilling water on the Columbia.

 

Driving through Douglas County’s dryland wheat fields.

 

A rest stop at Dry Falls for an update on local geology.

 

On the road again driving through the Grand Coulee.

 

Uh oh, stop lights.

 

Driving through irrigated agriculture fields

 

You have to drive through some not so pretty industrial areas to get to the good stuff.

 

Crossing the Columbia River for the third time.

 

Sunset and a family of Canada Geese on the Columbia.