Daily Image - Jan 2011 Archive

All the Daily Image mailings for the month of January 2011.

We start year 6 with a shot taken over this past weekend. For the last 4 days we have had absolutely glorious winter weather with clear blue skies, bright sunshine, and temps in the 20s. As the former announcer for the Seattle baseball team was frequently heard to say, "MY OH MY!", it just doesn't get any better. So off we went up along the North Cascades Highway (SR20) leaving home while the moon and Venus were the only things lighting the sky and returned to the same. Along the way we passed through Rockport, WA, and continued through Marblemount,WA up into the hills for some fantastic views of the Eldorado Mountains (part of the "American Alps"), frozen vegetation along partially falling streams, wonderful icicles, a wild herd of perhaps 35 Roosevelt Elk, and more than 60 Bald Eagles. And if that wasn't enough, we finished off the shooting with a side trip to Fir Island, WA for some lovely sunset images and an opportunity to watch the full flock of c10,000 Snow Geese lift off in unison a time or two plus a small show of maybe 300 Trumpeter Swans. Just couldn't ask for a much better day than that. Well, perhaps you could ask, but I don't think it would be realistic. I got enough material from that one day shoot to provide images for a couple of weeks, so lets start with a concluding shot just to be different. With the cold weather, snow that had fallen earlier was still clinging to whatever it could, and this made for our first exposure to it on the shoreline of Fir Island. With the winter sun rapidly sinking, that beautiful light, coupled with a bit of intentional underexposure, provided for some spectacular shots. This is one I really liked from the group. ISO 200; 1/640 sec @ f/ 11.
If there ever was an amazing species recovery story, it has to be that of the American Bald Eagle. From virtually never seeing one in the wild as a kid, to now seeing them on a regular basis here in the city, this bird has made a remarkable comeback. One might even suggest that they are becoming a pest, or, if not quite that strong a position, a consideration of them now becoming a threat to other species, in particular, in this area, Great Blue Herons. Regardless of how you view them as a population, there are definitely something of beauty to see in the wild and around here you need travel only for a couple of hours to place yourself in their midst. Along SR20 in WA, in the town of Rockport, there is an Eagle Interpretive Center which is dedicated to the survival of the Bald Eagle. Part of their work is to count the eagles on a regular basis and report the findings on their webpage. The day prior to our visit they reported having counted 375 individual birds, and while I always wonder how they can distinguish between that many individuals, I figured that was a large enough number to make the visit to the area worthwhile. And it was as we saw over 60 birds in a period of roughly 2 hours. Interestingly, they are not all that easy to spot in the trees, even with the leaves off the branches. Somehow these large brown birds with their distinctive white heads and tails seemingly blend in with the trees. On the river banks they are rather easy to spot, but once perched in the trees and sitting there like statues, they become part of the forest. As hard as that may seem to be, I'm providing a shot of what you see when you are there. Now I've removed the color to make it easier to spot the birds, which odd as it seems, really does help. When I took this shot I thought I was seeing 8 birds both through the viewfinder and with the "naked" eye. Upon studying the image on the screen, my count of the birds changed. So take a look and determine for your self how many birds there are, and, in the process, access the ease with which you find them. The image is very busy, just as it was at the location of the shot. ISO 320; 1/200 sec @ f / 11
Travel along I-5 N approximately 60 miles to the town of Burlington, WA at which point you exit and take SR20 E roughly 40 miles to the town of Rockport, WA. You are now in the heart of the Bald Eagle viewing area, which lasts for about three months peaking in the early part of December when the salmon spawn is at its height. As you might imagine, the congregation of birds tends to follow the salmon run. We made the visit about two weeks post peak, so there were still plenty of birds to see, and for those of you living near me there is still time to go see a lot of birds. However, should you wait too long, and miss the big bird display, you will simply have to spend your time looking at what remains behind after the birds depart. Assuming you make your visit on a somewhat sunny day, the local scenery isn't altogether that bad, but, should you desire something more, there is always an opportunity to go rafting down the Skagit River, visit a local salmon hatchery, do a bit of snow related activities, or just visit some of the local communities for some interesting sight seeing. The bottom line is that for a day trip it would be hard to find this anything other than relaxing, to the degree that you may not want to return to your place of origin. As an example, I submit this roadside view taken from the bridge across the Skagit River in Rockport. Oh yes, for those of you counting birds, try your luck with this image; yesterday's image had at least 13 that I can easily point out, there may be a few I missed. ISO 320; 1/ 800 sec @ f / 9.
Driving slowly along SR20 E we came to a spot with a couple of cars stopped and I ventured out to see what I could find. There were a couple of birds noticeable in the distance sitting on a tree with others joining, eventually culminating in a total of four birds. Plus a few others way off in the distance that were really beyond any hope of capturing. I worked the closer birds until I felt I couldn't improve and then started back towards the vehicle. As I was walking back a slight movement caught the corner of my eye so I stopped to look more carefully and saw this young bird that was somewhat obstructed by both branches and sunlight. Moving around to better position myself I was able to get a few shots of the critter as it turned to look at me and then turned away again, repeating this behavior as I snapped away. None of the images were satisfactory by themselves, but with a little work on the computer I was able to get one that I think is acceptable. This bird is likely between 5 and 6 years old as you will note that the head feathers are just becoming white. One of the few Bald Eagles I've seen in this transitory period. ISO 320; 1/200 sec @ f / 8.