Category: Special Places

Northwest Trek

Despite a rather heavy cover of clouds and cool weather, Gavin and I headed out to Northwest Trek today. It wasn’t an ideal day for photographs, but I couldn’t resist taking my camera.

I think I’ve mentioned that I’m not terribly fond of zoos where animals are caged, but part of the appeal of NW Trek is that the animals run free and a tram carries passengers through the site. That means that you shoot what you can, as you can. I like that feeling, and I particularly like the idea that the animals, though penned, aren’t caged.

Of course, with limited range and unlimited exposure to people, the animals soon become far too tame for my taste. I avoided some of the more obvious shots and attempted to create a realistic feel, as in this shot of a swan:

I also love this shot of a fawn hiding in the grass because it’s the kind of shots I might actually capture in the wild:

My favorite shot of the day is this one of one of the caged coyotes, though the cage he’s in is much larger and has a more natural setting than the ones you’ll see in most zoos:

I did get some knock-down-dead shots of the animals, but somehow I don’t like them as well as these as they seem strangely artificial, though I’d probably be bragging about them to everyone I knew if I’d actually captured them in the wild. Either that, or someone would find the digital negatives on my dead body after I’d gotten too close to the wolves or to the black bear.

It turned out to be a rather expensive trip as I ended up buying a year-long membership for a hundred and five dollars, lunch for two, and a stuffed owl for Lael because I felt guilty about leaving her at the baby-sitter’s today. Expect to see more shots from here in the future.

The Day I Invented

After finishing “January First� yesterday, I decided it was time to get out of the house and invent the day I wanted it to be.

As I left the house with my camera, I was greeted by this hummingbird and couldn’t pass up a few shots:

I drove four blocks to Pt Defiance beach and took a new look at some sea gulls I hadn’t really looked at for awhile. Strangely, I’d never noticed their colorful beak:

Gazing out into the Sound, I wondered why I was the only one watching this small Horned Grebe repeatedly diving, catching small fish:

On my way back to the car, a spied a seagull carrying a leaf and wondered if it was decorating for Halloween:

Only after it moved closer did I realize the gull was holding a crab in its mouth, and the crab was holding the leaf. Silly me, I should have known that crabs, not seagulls, celebrate Halloween.

I spent a little while wandering around the boathouse, trying to figure out which way the wind was blowing

before leaving the beach and driving another two or three blocks up the hill to the zoo to get some pictures of the Wood Ducks. When I arrived I was told they were hiding in the grass after being terrorized by some wild Mallard drakes.

While waiting for them to return to the pond, I went to see if the Arctic Kit Fox was out. He wasn’t, but there were several dragonflies flying around. Since I’ve been trying to get a picture of one for months, I didn’t really mind when visitors looked at me rather oddly since I seemed fixated on an empty exhibit. My patience paid off as I managed to get this shot:

After taking several photographs of the dragonflies, I went back and got the picture I had really come for:

By then the compact flash card was full, so I had to skip the mushroom and Pileated Woodpecker pictures I had also hoped to get.

How’d you choose to invent your day?

Back to Belfair

We’ve been busy entertaining company from California, so I haven’t had time to finish Elizabeth Bishop The Complete Poems yet.

I did take our guests to Belfair today, and though there were remarkably few birds, I did manage to get a few shots I was happy with.

First, I managed to get a decent shot of a Spotted Towhee, a bird I’ve tried unsuccessfully to get a picture of for quite awhile:

My recent pursuit of the elusive Belted Kingfisher continued today, as one met us nearly at the start of the hike and proceeded to streak up and down the river for the next two hours, all the time refusing to sit in one spot long enough for me to get a good shot of it. Still, I think this shot is by far the best I’ve gotten so far:

Since I’m seeing these guys everywhere now, I’m convinced that I will manage to get a great shot one of these days, probably when I’m least expecting it. As I said today, waiting for that perfect shot of one should keep me going for a while.