If the addition of several new videos to my YouTube channel wasn’t proof that I have more time on my hands at the home office during Coronavirus lockdown, then the upload of a new gallery of old photos surely is. It’s been a while since I’ve had time to go back and process older photos for the archive, and I wasn’t quite sure where to begin. There’s quite a backlog, and the archive didn’t house anything older than 2012-13. But as I scoured my folders from past outings, I noticed there were several from the Pacific Northwest from 2012 that weren’t online yet and should be consolidated into one online gallery. These are mostly images that I published on my old website, but I discovered a few new, unpublished shot as well.
I got out locally quite a bit that year (luckily, I also made it to places like Yellowstone, Borneo, Hong Kong, Peru and South Africa!). I had forgotten how much. Photo outings included visits to local Seattle area parks (Discovery Park, the Washington Park Arboretum), the Skagit Valley, Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, and a few trips across the border to Boundary Bay and Reifel Bird Sanctuary in British Columbia. I even photographed a few birds at our house that year.
I have reprocessed and uploaded 82 of these photos to the Pacific Northwest Parks & Reserves 2012 gallery. A short preview is below.
The Washington Park Arboretum teems with Red-winged Blackbirds.
A Northern Harrier perches at first light at Boundary Bay.
Occasionally I’ve witnessed the Canada Geese at Reifel Bird Sanctuary performing interesting rituals.
A Short-eared Owl circles near Boundary Bay.
A “Shorty” soars over the Skagit Valley.
Is the Wood Duck the best-looking bird in the Pacific Northwest? It’s a worthy candidate.
A muskrat swims through the muck at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.
My very first mink photo opportunity didn’t last long, so I was pleased to grab a few shots.
Perhaps the most common bird of my childhood in Seattle, the American Robin.
A female Yellow Warbler perches above the trail at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge.
There is a family of Sandhill Cranes that stays at Reifel Bird Sanctuary year-round, presumably because visitors often feed the birds there.
The famous waxwing “berry toss.”
Our largest local woodpecker species, the Pileated Woodpecker, is one handsome bird.
See the full PNW 2012 gallery. And remember that you can order prints of just about any of the images in the photo archive!
If you’re interested in joining me on a local bird outing in the coming year (winter is best), check out the list of options on my local workshops page.
