Category: Animals

I laughed… (not at the elk)

Hidden Photographer

So I was playing around with various image processing software to see what I could do to improve some of my older images… (this one is from 2017). I had just taken some photos of fall foliage and noticed some elk just down stream from my position, crossing the North Fork Skokomish (just a half mile or so up from Staircase Campground in the Olympic National Park.

I had looked at this image dozens of times over the years, but this was the first time I had ever noticed that there was someone on the other side of the river, watching the elk from behind a log. I can’t tell if they had a camera or not, but I image that there presence was why the elk were crossing. (see below)

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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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