We have a bunch of birds that are regulars at Juanita Bay which I will still photograph but that don’t stand out. Then, when you walk along the shore and you see a flash of something different, you quickly change direction. I was walking along the shore back towards the park when a white bird came into view and I saw it was a merganser. I reversed course and managed to get some shots before it too reversed course and disappeared behind the foliage. I was able to get some further shots further across the bay later, but they weren’t as close as this initial encounter. Sadly, the sun had not come up very far. It was a sunny morning, but it was midwinter and the trees were providing plenty of shade this early in the day.
Nancy and I were walking along the shore in Edmonds and decided to stroll out on the fishing pier. This follows the line of the breakwater for the marina and the large rocks that the breakwater is constructed from make for a good habitat for wildlife. We saw a starfish on one area but, since they don’t move too quickly, it was not much fun to watch. However, there were a couple of crabs lurking down there. One was just hanging in its little space waiting for something to come its way. Another was a lot more active and was making good progress across the rocks. I got a bunch of still shots but also played with a little video as you can see below.
The visit of the VP has resulted in two posts so far but there is a third! Once everyone had headed off, there were still a bunch of vehicles to be dealt with. As everyone was tidying up, a C-17 showed up on the approach to Boeing Field. It touched down and headed to Modern Aviation. I assume all of the vehicles will have been loaded up in it for transport to wherever they were needed next. I have to admit that I didn’t hang around to watch the loading or see the departure. It was time for me to head off so I will trust that is what they did.
The 787-10 has a center section that is too long to fit in the Dreamlifter. This means that they can only be assembled at the North Charleston plant. The conspiracy theorists amongst us may think this was a deliberate part of the plan to focus production there and close the Everett line but, whether that is true or not, Everett is now only addressing issues with airframes already built and is not building any new 787s. However, some continue to come here from the east coast for rectification work prior to delivery. That means we get some 787-10s showing up and one of them was for United. I hadn’t planned on it but was there for something else and got this as a bonus.
I started my morning of a trip to Whidbey Island at Moran’s Beach. This is a good location for morning arrivals at the airfield but it also provides a nice view out into the water. You can get some wildlife passing through if you are lucky and I was. A bald eagle was hunting in the area. It was hanging out in the trees just north of me and then heading out to the water. There was a fishing boat working not far offshore. It was attracting a ton of attention from the local gull population and they were swarming around the boat. The eagle was also interested, though. It would swoop through periodically, looking for a cheap snack. The gulls were not too impressed by the interloper!
A while back I posted about the visit of a C-32 to Boeing Field in support of the visit of the Vice President. It wasn’t the only aircraft to be there, though. The USAF also had a C-40 that was providing support. The motorcade delivered everyone to the aircraft but the C-32 departed swiftly while the C-40 was in less of a hurry. I imagine that they were sweeping up the stragglers before heading off. Needless to say, I waited around for them to go. They didn’t get quite the same priority as the C-32 but taxied back and took off – presumably heading back to the east coast.
Friday evening after work, the sun was out and, with the time having changed, it wasn’t getting dark too early. I decided to have a stroll down at Juanita Bay Park before going home. Of course, the camera came with me. Things were pretty quiet, and I was taking a few photos but decided it was time to head home. As I turned to walk back, I saw a friend of mine, Lee, walking towards me. I was about to greet him when he started running towards me and called out “otters”!
I turned around a pair of otters were swimming across the bay towards us. They came towards the little island area and climbed out on to the shore. It is a bit difficult to get a shot there, but I managed a few. They moved along the shore and then back into the water. They headed out to the middle of the bay. Clearly, they were planning on hunting so we gave them a little time. A short while later, one appeared on the surface with what looked like a fish.
Often, when the otters have a catch, they go to a buoy to eat it but, this time, they seemed to be heading back our way. I was hoping that they would come up on the beach to eat. Amazingly, that’s exactly what they did. However, it wasn’t a fish that they had caught. It was a duck of some sort. One of them had caught it and it didn’t seem interested in sharing too much. It proceeded to chomp down on its meal.
The sound of a otter’s teeth crunching the skull of a duck was hard to miss as it made it’s way through its meal. The second otter was keen to share but the first one would the carcass up and turn around to try and avoid the interloper. This was repeated several times. In due course, it decided it was done and just left the remains. I suspect some bits just aren’t that tasty. While I did get stills, the eating process was far more interesting as video, so I shot more of that. The feathers everywhere looked quite funny as they got stuck on the otter’s head while it ripped into the body.
Paine Field is getting rather full of spare 777X airframes. They are getting stored in all sorts of locations and a recent spot for them is alongside the main assembly building at the north end of the field. I was using the long lens and so, rather than change lenses, I shot a few images to make a pano. It was a little dull but more of a record shot. A few minutes passed by the the clouds behind me had moved on and the light on the airframes had improved significantly. I reshot the scene before it changed again. Looking at the two shots, it is hard to believe that they were only a few minutes apart. What an impact a change in lighting can bring to a shot.
The snow geese are a famous feature of Skagit County in the winter. They migrate through the area and feed well on the local fields. I wasn’t looking to get shots of the geese while I was up there but the view across the fields was dominated by them. I figured a little video was more appropriate to show just how many of them were there. They were a bit distant but that might actually be the better way to show just how constant their movement was.
I was doing a favor for a friend from the Midwest a little while back that involved visiting someone north of Seattle who owned a jet that the friend was interested in researching. The documentation was the main reason for the visit, but we also took a trip to his hangar to see the jet. While we were there, he showed me another jet that he has. If you go to a random hangar in Washington, are you expecting to find a pristine MiG-23? He had told me he had it so it wasn’t a surprise at that point, but it was in excellent condition. It hasn’t been re-assembled since it arrived, so the wings are off and the engine is out. However, it was freshly overhauled before he took possession, and the engine has zero time since overhaul too.
Tucked alongside it in the hangar are the various parts that are removed. I don’t know the status of any of the weaponry, but I am told it has no hindrance to being made airworthy again. He has no interest in doing that and I don’t think he has any plans to dispose of it so it may sit there for a while yet. MiG-23s are impressive jets when airborne and I would love to see this one fly again. The engine is huge and the only time I saw one fly a display at RIAT many years ago, the plume of the afterburner made quite the impression. Maybe one day…
We have a bunch of birds that are regulars at Juanita Bay which I will still photograph but that don’t stand out. Then, when you walk along the shore and you see a flash of something different, you quickly change direction. I was walking along the shore back towards the park when a white bird came into view and I saw it was a merganser. I reversed course and managed to get some shots before it too reversed course and disappeared behind the foliage. I was able to get some further shots further across the bay later, but they weren’t as close as this initial encounter. Sadly, the sun had not come up very far. It was a sunny morning, but it was midwinter and the trees were providing plenty of shade this early in the day.
