Tag Archives: wildlife

More Luck With Hummers/Iridescence at the Right Angle

My obsession/interest in photographing the hummingbirds in our back garden has continued. I mentioned my poor early attempts in this post but things have gradually been improving. I have decided to compromise on quality a bit by shooting from indoors. The birds are clearly not enthusiastic about me being there with the camera so I decided that shooting through the window was an alternative. Obviously double glazed windows are not optically ideal but they are surprisingly good it seems. This has allowed me to get a number of shots I am a lot happier with.

One thing that I have seen much more of when shooting from this location is the way in which the color of the feathers varies so dramatically depending on the angle to the light. The birds normally look very gray. The backs can start to be green when the light strikes at the right angle but the most dramatic changes are for the head and throat. Here a gray feather can suddenly transition to a pink of bright red. It only takes a very small change in angle for this to become apparent.

Seals Looking for a Salmon Dinner

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A trip to the Chittenden Locks in Ballard in the fall is a good time to see salmon making their way up through the fish ladder en route to their spawning grounds. If we know the salmon are there, so do their predators. On this day, it was seals. Seals and sea lions are both common at the locks when hunting for salmon. A pair of seals were playing around in the waters near the locks, no doubt choosing their moment for a snack. Another pair of seals had been a bit more aggressive in their thinking. They had made their way into the fish ladder itself.

There are gates on the entrance to the ladder that are intended to allow the fish through and not the larger predators but I guess on this day, the gates had been left open. Our first glimpse on one of the seals was as it was chomping its way through a salmon it had already caught. It was making swift work of it. A while later we saw them again. They would haul themselves out on to the walls of the ladder for a break before diving back in to search for the next snack!

The Elusive Hummers That Visit us

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We put up a hummingbird feeder on our deck this year. We also had some hanging baskets and were hoping that they would be attracted. Initially, the plants were their focus but they soon decided that they liked the feeder too. We could be sitting out there happily chatting away as the birds came and went. However, if I brought the camera out, they suddenly become awfully shy. Photos of a bit of a head or a wing behind the feeder were the norm. The shutter sound also seems to have a negative effect. However, I have got a couple of close attempts. One day I shall devote some time to trying to get decent shots but I was more intent on enjoying the summer days than photographing the birds.

Salmon Waiting to Head to Spawning Grounds

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The salmon head to spawn in phases with the three different breeds coming at slightly different times. They head through the ladder at the locks in Ballard in the fall but, before they head into Lake Washington, they pause in the approach area. The transition from salt water to fresh is something that they have to adjust to and the area just by the locks where the fresh water is spilling out provides a good place for them to get adjusted. They can stay for a couple of weeks or more. The result was that we saw a lot of salmon swimming around in the waters by the dam. This was not a risk free occupation as shall be covered in a future post.

Ospreys Galore

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A trip to Log Boom Park in Kenmore is usually because I am after floatplanes. However, it is a great source of wildlife and some of the ospreys in the vicinity were keen to be photographed. You get plenty of ospreys and eagles in the area but they are usually fishing a bit further out into Lake Washington and not so close to the shore. However, a few of them were circling right overhead and even looking at some fishing opportunities in around the jetty. It would be rude to not try and get some shots of them!

Squirrel’s Nibbling Won’t Be Disturbed By Us

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Walking through the woods at Meerkerk Gardens, we came across a tree that had fallen across the trail. Sitting on the log was a squirrel. This squirrel was happily munching on its food. We weren’t going to continue down the trail so were not likely to get in the squirrel’s way but we figured our very arrival would spook it. We were wrong. While it was clearly aware we were there, it did not seem to see any need to interrupt lunch just because of us.

Picking Up More Than You Can Handle?

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After work one evening, I headed to Log Boom Park in Kenmore. I was thinking I might shoot a few floatplanes as they returned at the end of the day but I hadn’t timed it right for that and didn’t see any. However, the local wildlife was busy including a few bald eagles that were out hunting on the lake. Some immature eagles were out and about but a couple of adults were also trying their luck. I saw one of them start to dive down on a target and followed with the camera.

The eagle struck its target and grabbed it out of the water successfully. However, it hadn’t fully appreciated just how large a fish this was. It was a beast and the eagle started to try and climb away without success. This fish was too heavy for it. That wasn’t going to deter it though. It had caught dinner and wasn’t intent on letting it go. Flapping furiously, it tried to gain speed and altitude. Speed was fine but altitude was a different story. Instead, it adopted a new tactic. Dangling the fish beneath it, the tail of the fish was slapping on the surface of the water. This seemed to provide a little support and the combination proceeded to skim across the surface of the lake. Only when at the shore was a final surge of effort put in to pull up on to an awning where the eagle landed and laid out its catch.

Great Blue Heron Spotting

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I posted a photo of a cormorant sitting on a post in Lake Washington in this post. More recently, the same post became the resting place for a heron. I had plenty of time to inch closer to get a better shot of the bird. The background was rather distracting so I ended up crouching in an strange position in order to get a cleaner background. The heron seemed content to wait for me to get the shot.

Big Horn Sheep Safely on the Slopes

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The end of our wildlife spotting trip in Jackson took us around the back of the elk refuge. Alongside the road is a slope which is very popular with the Big Horn Sheep. It has steep sides and food for them to graze on. The terrain renders them safe from the predators that might otherwise bother them since they are the ones with the advantage on such a steep and craggy slope. There were families of sheep scattered along the slope.

They weren’t very far away from us but, seeing as they are not large, they didn’t fill the viewfinder. Our guide carried a spotting scope which gave us a really close view. It also allowed you to get a quite impressive photo using only your cellphone since you could hold it up against the eyepiece. I did shoot with the bigger camera too, though. Some of the sheep moved up on to the ridge line where they were silhouetted for me to photograph. It was fun to watch them move around as they were constantly walking to the next good food source all while they were perched on some pretty precarious spaces.

Garter Snake

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Strolling along a trail on Whidbey Island I saw a slight movement off to one side. I stopped to see what it was and it took a moment to realize it was a snake. I don’t know much about snake species but a conversation with someone later and a look online told us it was a garter snake. It froze when I saw it so we had a standoff to see who would move first. Gradually it moved around a bit until I could get the briefest of views of its head. Having tried to get a picture of it, I left it in peace to do whatever it was doing.