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Purple Martin juveniles - Not quite ready to leave the nest

on August 10, 2020

East Bay nest box Nesting nesting box Olympia Purple Martin Stream Team

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December 21, 2016 - Surf Scoter about to eat a whole clam

Male juvenile surf scoter eating a clam Budd Inlet in Olympia, Washington December 21, 2016 I have always had a strong stomach. I enjoy eating hot and spicy foods, with few digestive problems. My culinary escapades seem positively weak compared to the eating habits of the scoter family. Scoters are diving ducks who winter along the coasts of the lower 48 states. Many of them breed in the Hudson Bay area and in the Arctic. Surf scoters are a common sight on Puget Sound during the winter months. The males are sometimes confused with puffins because of their jet black color and orange and white beaks. The diet of Surf scoters is primarily mollusks, with some crustaceans, small fishes and marine worms thrown in to their diet. After diving for clams or mussels, Surf scoters eat the whole thing - shell and all. Their powerful gizzard helps them to process the food from the shells. I watched a small group of mostly female and juvenile scoters feed. In the course

Examples of the effect of different shutter speeds on the crispness & detail of the moon; and, the relationship between the moon & a light cloud layer.

Full Moon rises over Mount Rainier at Sunset

Full Moon rising over Mount Rainier View from Tumwater, WA October 11, 2019 I have been to the top of Tumwater Hill many times to watch Mount Rainier as the sun sets. I have also been there several times to watch the full moon rise. And, each time I have been to Tumwater Hill to watch the moon rise, I have been disappointed. Weather, timing, atmospheric conditions and location have never been in my favor. On Friday October 11, 2019, luck turned in my favor. Sunset was 6:32 PM. Moonrise was 6:14 PM. The two corresponded perfectly. The moon would be rising above the horizon just as the sun was setting. The day was clear and beautiful. When the moon began to rise over the horizon, everyone at the park was amazed to see the moon rising perfectly over the left flank of Mount Rainier. As it continued its ascent, the moon moved up and to the right. At one point, it was nearly perched over Rainier's crater. We were all thankful for our good fortune.

Fall Chinook Salmon Run in Olympia - August 27, 2017

As the new school year appears on the horizon each August, another type of school is in session on Budd Inlet in downtown Olympia. From mid-August until mid-September, Deschutes River fall Chinook salmon make their way to the 5th Avenue Bridge in Olympia, where a small dam provides passage into the fresh water of Capitol Lake. Hundreds of fish swim at the base of the dam, getting their last taste of salt water before beginning the final swim up the Deschutes River fish ladder to WDFW hatchery located in Tumwater Falls Park. The Chinook salmon run draws crowds of onlookers to the 5th Avenue Bridge's viewing platform. Informational signage and volunteer Salmon Stewards from Thurston County Stream Team provide information about salmon and the annual run. Although they are less than three miles from their final destination, the returning salmon still face the obstacle of voracious harbor seals, who work in teams to chase and corral salmon. Some lucky salmon es

Multiple Exposure and Christmas Lights

Multiple-exposure image created with three in-camera exposures As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, I have really enjoyed having the multiple exposure feature on my Canon 7D Mark ii. Canon has taken the ability to sandwich multiple photographs in-camera to a whole new level. When you shot double exposures back in the good old film days, the results were usually pretty random. A few cameras had the ability to re-set the shutter without advancing the film. For most of us, creating double exposures required either re-loading an exposed roll of film into the camera and shooting over the top of previous images; or, doing physical camera gymnastics to keep the camera from advancing the film in order to shoot an extra image. Nikon was one of the first digital manufacturers to incorporate double exposures into their digital cameras. What a wonderful new feature! With these cameras, you decided before you created the first shot that you wanted to make a multiple. And, you cr

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