Tag Archives: Mukilteo

Swans in the Overhead

I was up at Mukilteo one afternoon when I looked above me when I heard the sound of birds. At first, I thought it was a flock of geese, but a closer look led me to think they must be trumpeter swans. They were flying south, and Paine Field was in the direction of their travel. A flock of swans would be suboptimal for an airfield that doesn’t want to have a Sully moment, but I imagine that they didn’t cause any trouble. Their echelon formations looked very cool as they flew over me. I will have to go to Juanita to see if swans are back in residence at this time of year. A trip to Skagit must be on the cards too.

Almost Paragliding on the Shore

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Another post from my time on the shoreline at Mukilteo. I was working away on the laptop and a bit oblivious to whatever was outside the car when a flash of color caught my eye. Looking up, a guy was standing across the lot with a paraglider inflated above him. I have no idea what his plan was since he was about as low as he could be and launching somewhere seemed unlikely. Maybe he was testing something. Whatever the reason, this was one of the more unlikely things I have seen in a parking lot!

Are Crows My New Cormorant?

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Cormorants have appeared many times on this blog, and they are clearly my favorite. However, I have noticed more and more that I am photographing crows as well. When the light is right, the feathers on crows really show off interesting colors – colors you never think of for a bird that is effectively black. I saw these birds down by the shore one afternoon as the sun was out and they looked so cool that I couldn’t resist a few shots.

Rainbows Over the Sound

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In a previous post, I mentioned working from the car on the waterfront at Mukilteo. It was a lovely sunny day while I was there – at least for the most part. However, I did see a rain squall off in the distance across the water. It didn’t stay too far away for long and, at one point, I was sitting in the car as it was pelted with heavy raindrops. It didn’t last long but the rain, combined with the sun, did result in some rainbows over on the sound. Having recently posted photos of rainbows near the house, I seem to be on a bit of a rainbow theme. Here are some shots I took from the parking lot where I was working.

Watching the Ferries While I Work

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I was getting my car serviced up in Everett and was working from the dealership’s lounge while they were busy with it. When they finished, I didn’t have much time before my next call so, since I couldn’t get back to the office in time, I parked down on the waterfront to take my calls. I ended up spending the rest of the day working there (and having my lunch). It was a lovely day, and the ferries were coming in and out of the Mukilteo terminal. I did take a moment every once in a while, to grab some photos of the two ferries as they went back and forth.

Mukilteo’s Hills Look Steep

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As the ferry was crossing towards Mukilteo, I was looking towards the lighthouse to see if it was worth a shot. What I hadn’t realized was that some of the roads in Mukilteo seem pretty steep which shouldn’t be such a surprise given how hilly it is around there. When aligned with the roads and shooting with the long lens, the compression made them look particularly steep, but I suspect they are not as bad as they look here.

Mukilteo From the Sea

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I spent a lot of time covering the construction of the new Mukilteo terminal for Washington State Ferries. The only limitation was that the best angle on the terminal was from the water and I didn’t have a good view on that. Since it is north facing, the best time to get a photo of it is in the summer late in the day. We were coming home from Whidbey on a Saturday evening, so I took the chance to finally get some photos of the terminal from the water. The artwork can be seen from this angle which is not so easy from other places.

My Attempt At Aurora Shots

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There was a prediction that the Aurora Borealis would be visible well south in the US and, with clear skies in the area, I figured I would definitely go and see if I could get some shots. I thought my best location would be Mukilteo since I could be on the waterfront with an unobstructed view to the north. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one to have that thought. There were tons of vehicles lined up trying to find a space in the parking lot at Mukilteo.

I didn’t even bother to mess with this and turned around. I figured I would try the park at the other end of the waterfront and found a parking spot as soon as I arrived. No need to park on the street outside the park. There were still a lot of people there waiting including a few cameras pointed skywards. Unfortunately, we didn’t have anything to shoot. The predicted aurora never got as well developed as far south as us. I got a few shots including some where I tried to work out whether it was just ambient light on clouds in the distance or some sort of illumination from above but it was a bust.

RV Thomas G. Thompson

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Quite a while back, now, I was down on the shore at Mukilteo when this research ship transited passed the lighthouse. It was clearly a vessel designed for studying something marine related (unless it was a spy ship) so I decided to check it out. There is a small fleet of these vessels operated by the Office of Naval Research. They put operation of the ships out to tender and this one was won by the University of Washington.

The ship is named after the guy that founded UW’s Oceanographic lab in the 30s. it spends over 300 days a year at sea, so I guess they get plenty of use out of it. Originally, she would have been scheduled out of service by this year but a big refit was carried out in a local Seattle shipyard, Vigor, a few years back so she should be good until the late 2030s.

Mukilteo Rail Station

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In all of my visits to the waterfront at Mukilteo, it would have been neglectful if I hadn’t had a quick poke around at the railroad station. This is for Sounder commuter rail trains to Seattle and is across from the new ferry terminal. It will be interesting to see whether WSDOT’s Amtrak Cascades trains stop there in the future to connect with the ferries but currently they do not (and, at the time of writing, the Cascades services north of Seattle are suspended anyway.)

The station is not that old since the Sounder service has only been around since the 2000s. Consequently, it is a nicely thought out design rather than an old station that has been upgraded. It includes some artwork with a local theme with stone sculptures of local boat designs. A footbridge takes you over the tracks to the far platforms. I doubt I will ever have the need to use it but it was fun to look around on a quiet weekend.