Tag Archives: washington

Is Crossing the Runway Now a Good Idea?

At the fly in at Concrete last year, I was looking up the runway at approaching planes. There are designated crossing points for the runway but people are able to cross elsewhere if they like. I saw a guy with canes heading towards the runway. He was not moving fast so I figured he would wait for the landing aircraft. He kept moving but I was sure he would check whether it was safe to go. Nope, he just kept on going while a plane was on short final. At some point he must have realized that crossing a runway can come with some peril and he suddenly started moving a bit faster – not fast, but at least faster. Meanwhile, the pilot on approach either didn’t see him or decided he would miss him so didn’t go around. The whole thing was one of those that you witness with a little incredulity.

Don’t Stand Under the Heron Rookery

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The south side of the locks at Ballard has an area of trees along the water which is a heron rookery. I have been there once when the herons were roosting. That is not an appealing experience. The herons are directly above the path and a lot of adult and juvenile birds in their nests results in an almost constant stream of “material” falling onto the bushes and path below. It is perilous, the odor is intense and the ground underfoot is not as grippy as you might like.

In winter, the herons aren’t roosting, but the area is surprisingly unpleasant even then. Some cormorants were up in the trees using it as a good spot for picking out their next fishing trip. They did also imperil those below a little but not to the extent that the herons do. The cold weather was doing a good job of suppressing the smell and also the slippery nature of the paths. I took some images of a bench and the bushes which show just how much falls from above. Heron chicks might be interesting to see but visit this location only when you know what you are letting yourself in for!

Look Both Ways When Crossing the Road

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While parked up at East 90 and watching the birds hunt, I glanced behind me – always a wise plan – and saw a northern harrier coming in my general direction. It flew low across the field and over the road before finding a perch. As I looked through the images afterwards, I found it funny to see the bird crossing what seemed to be not far behind a vehicle. I hope it had been taught how to cross the road.

A little while later, the same process was followed by a bald eagle. The shot makes it look like it was actually coming along the road but I think that is just compression of perspective. It was probably this side of the road. It also safely made its way across without having any conflict with passing vehicles. Maybe the local birds have copies of the Green Cross Code (for those of you of a certain age that grew up in the UK).

This Valley is Pretty Green!

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I may have lived in the Pacific Northwest for a number of years, now, but I am still amazed at times by the moss that grows on so many surfaces here. The shaded and damp conditions are ideal for moss growth, and it surely shows. The special thing is how the light will pick up the surface of the moss in the gloomy areas of shade and make it seem like it is glowing. It really is something special and something that I find hard to show effectively with photos.

Still, I continue to try. These shots are all taken in the valley at Granite Falls. No lack of moisture down there, I can confirm! Looking at the branches of almost all the trees (and plenty of exposed rock surfaces for that matter), you will see moss everywhere. Looking up towards the light, it really does seem to get highlighted. I shall continue my quest to get the right photo of moss indefinitely!

Omni 777 Takes the Band to Houston

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The appearance of UW in the national championship game meant a lot of people flying from Seattle to Houston. That included the band and I believe they were the ones to fly in an Omni Air International 777-200ER. We get plenty of Omni’s 767s at Boeing Field but a 777 was an interesting change. I hung around quite a while one Saturday waiting for them to depart. As with so many charters, they went late. (Late enough to mean I got stuck on I-5 heading back for lunch when a protest closed down the interstate.) I took a chance by going with a long prime rather than a zoom and, fortunately, they rotated just early enough for that to work out for me. I was rather pleased with the tighter shots of them getting airborne.

Morning Tahoma

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An early morning flight was needed for a trip that I needed to take for work, and it was taking me south. The departure time was before the sun was due up, but I hoped that I might get a view of Mt Rainier (also known as Tahoma) as we headed south so I had selected a seat on the left side of the plane. The plan was a good one even if the quality of the window of the jet was not. I have not seen such a scruffy window on an airliner in ages! Some random repositioning of the lens to try different parts of the window resulted in some reasonable shots. Nothing special but nice to get when you have to be up early anyway.

Rowing Near the Locks

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A cold but sunny winter’s day at the locks in Ballard did not make me think that being on the water would be fun. However, someone clearly had a different idea. While I was walking around looking at the boats and the wildlife, a guy was out sculling in his boat. He came quite close to the overflow from the sluice gates and had to work to position himself with the flow and turbulence from the water as it headed towards the sound. It seemed like a very cold time to be out there, but I guess he was enjoying himself?

Lockheed 12 Heading East

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Airport roads can sometimes throw up interesting surprises. I was driving around Paine Field one weekend and came upon this fuselage sitting on a trailer. I had a chat with the guys loading it up. It is a Lockheed 12 and was heading to Minnesota for restoration to flight. They suggested a lot of work was needed and it would be a while before it was flying again. However, I was just taken to see it sitting beside the road as I happened to pass by.

Trumpeter Swans Along the Road

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The snow geese are famous visitors to Skagit County in the winter, but they are not the only large birds to show up in big numbers. The trumpeter swans also appear and, while they might not be in the large flocks of the snow geese, there are still loads of them around. They also don’t seem to mind being close to the humans. I had seen a bunch of them as I was driving around and pulled off the road at one point as so many were in the adjacent field.

The fun thing about photographing swans is getting them taking off. Two or more of them flying at low level as they build speed is pretty cool. You might normally wait for ages for this to happen but, with so many of them around, it seems as if there is almost always a take off occurring. Consequently, while some might seem distant, you know another will be closer in before too long. (I do like the head on look but that does require getting to more inaccessible spots usually.)

After shooting at the same spot for a while, I continued south. I was getting back to an area south of Mt Vernon when I came across even more swans sitting right by a side road. They were ridiculously close to the road and, when I pulled up and stopped, they did start to drift away a little. I guess even swans can be slightly circumspect when it comes to humans arriving. However, they quickly got used to me and I got some shots of them too!

Grab It While You Can – Or Will I Be Wrong?

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UW had some success with their football program this year which meant a few charter flights took place. Some of the charters that they arranged were with New Pacific Airlines. This is a relatively new airline that originally was going to be Northern Pacific until BNSF Railway, which owns that name, objected to their using it. Their plan has been to operate transpacific flights via Anchorage in a similar model to that of Icelandair. Things have got off to a slow start. They are doing some domestic US flying but those routes have been erratic too. The fleet is a pair (I think) of Boeing 757-200s so hardly cutting edge. I think they might not last long.

Consequently, when their jet showed up at BFI, I figured I should definitely get photos since I might not get the chance again. Winter conditions are not going to be the greatest, but I was able to get a few that I was pretty happy with. I don’t wish the airline any harm at all, but they don’t seem to be giving off the vibe of a great success story. Let’s hope the charters can fill in until they get something more solid going.