Mountains and Planes

On the way back from Wisconsin we had cloudy skies most of the way, but the clouds cleared as we were approaching Bellingham for landing. Off to one side I could see Mt. Adams - it was spectacular but went by fairly fast - then up loomed Mt. Ranier - it seemed so close - and even though the pilot had already announced that we were to have all carry-on luggage stowed beneath the seat in front of us, I whipped out my camera and began taking pictures.

Now this was more difficult than usual, because I was in an aisle seat and had to aim the camera out the window - hoping to get the mountains and not the passengers' heads.

Mt. Ranier was majestic . . .
A lot farther away we could see the Olympic Mountains, but even my camera has its limits - so I was happy with Mt. Ranier, and hoped that Mt. Baker would appear on the other side of the plane.

And there she was. Her little cap of clouds - a glorious welcome home sight!

I have no idea what this mountain is - but it was beautiful too. I was taking these out of the opposite side of the plane - across the aisle and there was a mother and two young children in the seats so I had to time the photos so I got them when everyone was not leaning forward in their seats.

And once again Mt. Baker came into view - I guess we must have been circling - I took pictures until the pilot announced that the flight attendants must take their seats and prepare for landing - and I stowed my camera under the seat in front of me, like a good passenger, after entertaining the other passengers with my camera.

Snow Geese - in action

One of the most spectacular things you can ever hope to see - and hear - is hundreds and hundreds of Snow Geese taking off. Sometimes something will frighten them and they will take off, and sometimes for no reason apparent to us, up they will go, circle around and land again. There aren't words to describe it - overwhelming - magnificent - spiritual communing - those are just a few, and seem so inadequate.

Click to enlarge the photos - makes them even better!!

Snow Geese

Every winter there are thousands of Snow Geese that over-winter in the Skagit Valley, about 20 miles south of here. We have several favorite spots where we often find them, but this day we had decided to head to La Conner to see what was on the other side of the big bridge over the bay. On the way we spotted masses of white and turned down a long farm driveway (there are several farms there so we weren't on private property, just on a long gravel road to the farms. And there they were - two huge flocks - one on each side of the road.

Snow Geese everywhere . . .

The brown tint on their faces is from minerals in the soil, it colors those feathers a brownish color - it isn't a stain, but a permanent color given to the feathers from the minerals.

The feathers on the young geese are amazing!

The sound by the flocks is sometimes almost deafening and when they fly up it seems every Snow Goose is honking - perhaps it is their guidance system.


We drove slowly down the gravel road and at one point, part of the flock was crossing the road.

They didn't seem to mind us one bit . . .

And slowly they got to the other side - plenty of time for more photos . . .

Time for some sleep - come back tomorrow for lots of action shots - here is a little sample.

Good Bye!

Ducks and Swans

Driving the backroads we often come across some amazing sightings of birds. On the old hiway from Burlington to Alger, WA we saw flooded fields and huge flocks of Pintail and Mallard Ducks - more Pintails than Mallards. The two ducks often flock together.

When the fields flood there are lots of temporary ponds for the ducks. We've had a very rainy winter this year.

The feathers on Pintails are spectacular . . .

And the Mallards . . . there is almost nothing as striking as their green head . . .

Across the road from the flocks of ducks were some of the Tundra Swans that over-winter here. We usually see them a little farther south so it was a treat on this sunny day to find them.

Time to go - bye!

A Magnificent Heron

After taking pictures in the snow on Saturday morning (last post) we decided to hit Birch Bay on Sunday morning. It was raining but the forecast had said some clearing between noon and 2 - so off we went. It was raining quite hard when we left, but by the time we got to Birch Bay the skies were clearing, and sure enough, we got a bit of sunshine.

There were a lot of ducks in the bay and the tide was going out - fast. It is a very shallow bay and when the tide goes out it goes out quickly.

I did get a quick shot of Sir and Madam Pintail - as they were fleeing. They seemed to be very skittish and even though there were large flocks of them, they got out of camera range quickly.

As we were driving along the bay in town I spotted a Heron out a little ways on the beach - standing on a pipe. As Don turned the car around to park, we pulled up alongside another Heron that we hadn't spotted before, this one not 30 feet away - standing on a rock. What luck!

You can see a small feather in the water - he had spent a lot of time grooming himself as we sat and watched.

He ruffled his feathers several times, I almost caught him with his wings spread.

And then he gave a hop and moved from the small rock to a larger one. I had my camera focused on him constantly and got the leap.

He stood on the rock and watched what was going on around him . . .

He looked at the seagulls nearby. . .

And a close up - enlarge the photo by clicking on it and you can see small bits of feather on his beak.

And then, not long after that first hop, he took off - and I captured that too. It was such an exciting day!

The sunshine lasted until we pulled into the driveway at exactly 2:00 - for one time the forecast was correct - sun from noon til 2.