I was walking through Juanita Bay Park when I saw this bird sitting on the sign. It sat there for a while before flying beyond it. I am not sure whether the sign was really directed at the local wildlife or just the humans but, if it was for the birds, it either can’t read or it was a little disobedient.
I was planning to head up to Skagit for the May Fly Day at the Heritage Flight Museum anyway. As it turned out, I had been talking with Rich at COAP about the trip he was leading and, when he asked if I would like to tag along with their group, I said yes. They had been working with the Museum and arranged some opportunities to shoot from locations that normal ticket access wouldn’t allow.
The team at COAP and the team at the museum were super helpful and friendly. Add to that, the weather was great and the combination of aircraft they were able to put up was excellent so, the day was set to be a bunch of fun. It did not disappoint. I have shot at the museum fly days before but, sometimes, the planes I was after didn’t fly and sometimes the conditions weren’t ideal. On this occasion, everything came together. I did play around with my shots trying to get more dynamic images. The high vantage point we had available helped with that too.
I took a ton of shots and culled them heavily. The result was a few shots I was particularly happy with and it was nice that the museum shared a few of them on their social media platforms too. Seeing the Skyraider fly is always cool but the day was a trainer day and they put up some great trainer formations. The conditions were a little bumpy but they made a good job of it and there were shots to be had. I look forward to the next time I am up there.
Playing with macro photography is fun and, when I came across a small frog in our back garden, I grabbed the macro lens. Clearly, the frog was not totally impressed by my interest in its presence, but I tried to get close to it without spooking it. It did allow me to get a little closer but getting a good focus on its head when things are dynamic was a little tricky. I got a lot of shots with the body in focus but not the eyes. Still, a few worked out okay.
I posted about the arrival of some Hunters and, in that post, I mentioned that I was there for a Gulfstream test jet. A couple of years ago, I managed to get some shots of a G600 test jet and I had been hoping to catch a G700 at some point. When one of the test aircraft filed a flight plan for Boeing Field, I finally had my opportunity. I was waiting for it when the Hunters showed up. It wasn’t far behind them that my original target showed itself.
This is the fourth test aircraft. It is in a nice paint job typical for the average anonymous bizjet but it gives hints to its true purpose by having some of the windows replaced with instrumentation. I was able to get it as it came in from the south, albeit with the usual cluttered background that Boeing Field has. Fortunately, they were operating out of the field for a few days and I was able to come back at a later date to catch it on approach from the other end.
My first visit to Exotics@RTC this year was delayed. Early events were canceled for weather reasons and then, when they got going, I was doing other things and couldn’t go. The first time I was able to make it was for the German Day. I have done this day in previous years, and I like the types of vehicles that show up. Yes, there will be a lot of modern Audis and BMWs but there will also be some far older and more interesting vehicles. A Porsche tractor was one of these.
I won’t go into great details about any individual vehicles, not least because I am not very knowledgeable about them. If they are in the center section, my assumption is that it is because they are unusual, rare and expensive but maybe something lesser can sneak in too. I wouldn’t know the difference. Here you go with some images of the various vehicles.
We had a brief phase a few months ago when Western Global was bringing in jets to Paine Field. The first one I encountered was a 747 freighter. It arrived in okay conditions but was flight planned for a departure that afternoon. The weather was getting better and better and, when they missed their original slot, I wasn’t complaining since the light was only going to improve. However, there was absolutely no sign of them moving. The crew appeared at one point and then left again. Eventually it became clear that they weren’t going.
The jet was parked in a position that meant the tail was slightly obscured. That meant the shot was not quite what I would have liked but it was going to have to do. They didn’t end up leaving until the next day but that was no longer the weekend, so I didn’t see it go. A touch frustrating but such is life!
When you are watching wildlife, you don’t have the same considerations that you would for other people. I was down at Juanita Bay one evening and realized that there were a couple of otters on the bank. It rapidly became apparent that they were in the process of mating. This went on for ages. The male had the female grasped tightly. They would end up in the water where he almost seemed to be drowning her. Then they would end up on land again where he would continue to grip her tightly. The occasional yelp would be issued and then they were back in the water.
A load of people were gathered by this point watching this process. The idea that a large group of people would hang around and watch humans doing this would involve a violation of a bunch of laws – at least in the US. However, we are fascinated by animals so there we all stood. Eventually I had other things to do so, while close encounters with otters are prized, it was time to move on. I guess we shall find out before too long if we have a bunch of new little otters in the park.
Singapore Airlines has been flying into SEA for a while. Initially they stopped at Vancouver and then continued to SEA before reversing the journey, but I guess loads were good enough that they changed to a direct flight. It arrives first thing in the morning and then heads out mid morning to go home. I have tried to get shots of it but the combination of weather issues and making it work for a weekend morning when I can plausibly be there has been tricky. One weekend, the weather wasn’t great, but I decided to give it a go.
I was looking to shoot from a location that gives an angle on the touchdown zone which I figured would help overcome the less than ideal weather conditions with more ground in the shot. However, I was disappointed to find that they were bringing the jet in on the outer runway. Consequently, it was a bit more distant than ideal (although the crummy weather meant haze was less of an issue than might otherwise have been the case).
The following week, I had a second go. The weather was slightly better but still not great. I was rather worried that I was going to have a repeat of the previous week. Not great conditions and would it go to the outside. As I watched the track inbound, I could see a bunch of other aircraft vectoring in for their approaches. Busy arrivals can often mean the heavies get sent to the inner runway to avoid wake turbulence requirements causing delays to the narrow bodies. This was the case and I got what I was after. The only issue was that there were quite a few planes taxiing out for departure and obscuring my shot (and throwing out some heat as well). However, I did get a shot so let’s count that as a win.
After walking some distance up the coast in search of foxes, I decided to head back in the direction of the car. Maybe I would see some on the way but I didn’t want to get too far away and then have to retrace my steps. I saw nothing on the way back and was a few hundred meters from the car when I got a text from Nancy. She was sitting in the car and staring at a fox a short distance from her. I had walked for ages and she had gone nowhere and they came to her.
I increased my pace a little and came around the corner into the parking lot to see a red fox sitting a short distance away on the path. It was not bothered by people but someone was walking their dog and it was far less impressed with its presence. It sat on the path for a while and then turned and trotted off towards the edge of the park and down towards the beach. At least I had got one fox so the trip wasn’t a total bust!
Who knows how long the A340s will last. I thought I had probably seen the last of them but Lufthansa was kind enough to make them a feature of their winter schedule to Seattle. Of course, not running every day combined with the great winter weather that Seattle is known for meant the chances of getting good shots were limited. Even when the conditions were favorable, they departed in the middle of the day which meant high sun angles and more glare. However, when the conditions were as good as could be expected, I took the chances that were available. Here are some shots from probably the last season.
