Tag Archives: seattle

Wolf Feeding Time

Trying to see the wolves at a zoo is not always an easy task. They tend to like to find a place to relax that is out of sight so, unless they are active, you might struggle to even see them. We got lucky on our last visit to Woodland Park Zoo as we came past the wolf enclosure (the second time as it happened) just at the time they were being fed.

I’m not certain what they were being fed but it looked like rodents of some sort. They would toss the food to the wolves and they would grab something and then head off somewhere away from the others to eat in peace. That included one that came our way. It was making quick work of its snack. The sound of the food being bitten through was slightly unnerving but, thankfully, the pictures don’t convey that so you only have to look at the outline of whatever it was they were eating!

National A330 Drops Off The Troops

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National Airlines has a single A330 and, with their livery being far from dull, it is a neat looking aircraft. It was coming to Boeing Field to drop off a bunch of troops. Why it didn’t go to McChord, I don’t know and I don’t care. I was able to get it on approach and then move down the field to see it parked up on Modern’s ramp. A bunch of coaches arrived to collect the troops and you could see them lining up to grab their kit from the hold.

With everyone on their way, the A330 headed off to its next destination. They had to cross the runway to get to the taxiway on the southwest side of he field since it is the only one able to accommodate widebodies. Then they were heading my way for departure. I stuck with the long lens to get a better rotation shot and then went for a close up of the gear retracting and the National logo on the underside of the plane. Shame the conditions were a bit dull for such a nicely painted plane but still a nice catch.

Container Terminal Evening

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Evening light can make many things look better than they do in the middle of the day. The warm evening light just makes things look better with the warm color and the softer shadows. In those conditions, even a container terminal looks interesting. From the roof of the hotel we were staying in downtown last year, we got a good view across Elliott Bay towards the terminal.

Sea Lion Boys On Tour

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This winter, the area around Shilshole Bay in Seattle has had some new residents. It is not unusual for sea lions to be in the area at this time of year but this year they have taken to hanging out on the floating docks around the bay. One favorite spot for them is the barrier alongside Ray’s Boathouse. This barrier has a flat top to it but is based on cylindrical tanks. Consequently, while a bunch of sea lions might be on top of it, another one climbing on or one jumping off can cause the whole thing to rotate and, if they are not careful, they can get dumped in the water.

A lot of people have been coming down to watch them hanging out. A bunch will be on the floats, some asleep and others barking at each other or the sea lions trying to get on. More can be seen swimming around in the surrounding area. It was fun to watch them for a while but it was pretty chilly the day we were there so we didn’t hang around for too long!

Kite Surfing on Puget Sound

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One weekend afternoon, we took a walk through Discovery Park in Seattle. We started up near to the top of the park and then took a trail that brought us down to the shore. The trail continued along to the lighthouse at which point we started back to our origination point. As we walked along the shore, the wind was quite brisk and it was proving to be fun for some guy that was out kite surfing. Not only was he enjoying the conditions but I think he quite liked the attention. He was very close in to the shore so was being watched by a lot of people doing the same thing as us. I shot a little video of him before moving on and here is what I saw.

Alaska’s New Special

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The arrival of this Alaska 737 on the flight line at Renton got a lot of attention from the locals. A special livery is always going to be of interest but this one is better than the average. The dark blue combined with the orcas is a really cool look. I first saw the jet while it was on the flight line at Renton ahead of a first flight. I wasn’t able to get it as it left Renton but I was able to catch its arrival at BFI. After a few test flights, it has now been delivered to Alaska so now I just have to hope I can catch it in better conditions.

Canadian Dauphin Eludes Me

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I don’t often see civilian Dauphins in service. The Coast Guard operates the type but the US does not have a lot of them in private hands. I saw a Canadian example showed up in Seattle and was quite a surprise. It had a large winch mount on the fuselage which is unusual for a civilian operator. It was quite a coincidence since Airbus Helicopters has just delivered the final Dauphin to a customer. It has been superseded in their line by the H160. I was hoping it would depart my way but it was cleared to the north on a downwind departure which they turned on to promptly after getting airborne. I got shots but they were distant ones.

More Fuselages Arrive

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I’ve posted photos of 737 fuselages on the delivery trains before so this is a repeat. This time it was a collection of five fuselages on one train, possibly the most I have seen at once. I saw the train across the field but thought I might have time. I was getting something else and, since the train has to switch off the mainline south of the airport, it often has to wait for the route to be set. I did get around just before the train moved which was handy.

With that many fuselages, I wanted to get a longer shot with a long lens. That is something that can only be done well in the winter when heat haze is significantly reduced. The overcast conditions mean that the green of the protective film on the fuselages looks a bit more vibrant than it does in bright conditions.

Hurricane Hunters Back In Town

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I was heading back from south of Seattle when I was surprised to find out that the NOAA WP-3D Orion, Kermit, was at Boeing Field. It had come in the day before but I hadn’t heard about it. I was planning to stop for lunch so why not go to BFI? Just after I got there, I saw a prop start turning on the number one engine. However, after running it up, they shut down again. I was dreading that they were going to go tech and the plane wouldn’t move.

Fortunately, whatever they were concerned about wasn’t too much of an issue. A little while later, while I was still eating my lunch, I looked up to see two engines running. This looked more promising. Sure enough they taxied shortly afterwards. The nice news was that they crossed the runway to taxiway bravo so we got a good look at them. A while later it was their turn for departure and they came my way. The nice thing about a four engined prop is that they didn’t climb too rapidly so a good angle on them. It was pretty overcast so not ideal light but the dark colors show up better without too contrasty light.

Air France A350

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Regular readers will know I am quite a fan of the Airbus A350. Getting a new operator of the jet in Seattle is nice for me and the Air France service has swapped from the 777 to the A350. It started a while ago but the conditions have been so bad for a while, I didn’t even bother trying to get out and shoot it. I was coming through the area when it was due in so made a diversion to get a few shots. Not too nice a sky but still okay and I will hopefully get better conditions at some point before too long. They arrive at lunchtime so the light is not ideal anyway at that time.