Category: Animals

Baby Otters

Baby Otters

I was walking the loop trail at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge when I spotted these baby otters on a small island in the middle of a pond … and I had left my camera at home, just carrying binoculars. I wanted a photo … so hurried my pace, drove home, grabbed my camera and telephoto lens and returned to the Wildlife Refuge. I hiked the mile or so back to the pond, expecting the otter pups to have relocated, but they were still there! And they were curious at my presence.

(The loop trail has since been broken to return the interior of the refuge to a salt water marsh and the refuge has been renamed the Billy Frank Jr. – Nisqually Wildlife Refuge.)

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Elk in Winter

Elk in Winter 1

The Olympic Elk (or Roosevelt Elk … Teddy, not FDR) are much easier to see in winter when they are hanging out in the lowlands than in the summer when they wander around much of the Olympic National Park and at some high elevations. The first three shots are of the “Dosewallips herd” … in fact, the first two shots were taken in Dosewallips State Park. Number 3 was taken just across the river in the town of Brinnon … in the school yard. Number 4 is of the Skokomish herd, pictured crossing the North Fork of the Skokomish River at the upper end of Lake Cushman.

Elk in Winter 2
Elk in Winter 3
Elk in Winter 4
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Whale Bones

Whale Skeleton Skull

This is a rather new exhibit in downtown Port Townsend, on one of the public docks: an entire gray whale skeleton. It was washed up south of town near Port Ludlow and the people at that location contacted NOAA and local authorities and got permission to leave it for the critters to pick clean. They then worked with experts to prepare the skeleton for display. It’s amazing. No way to get a good show of the whole thing, since the space is narrow and the skeleton is long. So, here are pieces of it.

Whale Skeleton Flipper
Whale Skeleton Tail
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Working is Hard Work … So is Blogging

Working is Hard Work

Just a little random humor here.

Well, sorta. I just recently noticed that I have just passed the 1,000 mark of posts. The number is a little soft, since I built a website with blog posts instead of pages (a rookie mistake). But I started blogging on a regular basis in April 2018. When I began, I was trying to post every day … but it soon became too much of a chore and not just the pleasure of sharing my photos that I was intending. So I switched over to posting every other day and have been happy with that decision (most of the time). It still becomes a chore once in a while.

Thanks to all who have encouraged me over the years. Your enjoyment of the posts is what I shoot for.

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