MORE NISQUALLY DELTA INHABITANTS

I think this Great Blue Heron looks like he is about to bow to his partner

for the cotillion:

Now a little less distracted by the social graces, and more intent on fishing:

(Or maybe spurned, and pouting on the sidelines?)

This bald eagle was not actually at the Nisqually, but spotted as we drove back roads on the way home:

And this is the reason we took to the back roads, so we could gaze on Mt. Rainier in all its loftiness this sunny day.  The Mountain was a larger-than-life presence on the route we chose.

SCENES AT THE NISQUALLY DELTA

Even birds have problems with mossy roofs in the Northwest!

These twin barns are immense:

The mid-winter scene was mostly stark, except for this show-off:

Hung-over since Autumn:

Very few of these were still hanging on after winter storms:

This is not a mass of twigs as it appears (well, I guess it really is); this tangle

of dried pods and limbs is actually a reflection in the water:

NISQUALLY RIVER DELTA

Yesterday was a charmed day.  First of all, it was the only sunny day we have had in ages.  Next, it was Pat's b-day, and my gift to her was an all-day trip (bring your own camera!) to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge where the Nisqually River enters south Puget Sound .

The basin is wonderfully preserved and wonderfully wild, and we were wild with anxiety when

we learned the Great Horned Owl's nest would be visible from one of the trails.

Owlets were there!

Of course, it was daytime, and feathered heads were bobbing.

The front sibling has succumbed, and eyes were closed: 

Now the little guy opened one eye:

I have a bone to pick with the wildlife paparazzi !

A whole forest of tripods was clustered, with lenses as big as small cannon attached. Owners of such were milling about, and left their photo artillery for any of the rest of us to be aware.  If we wanted to get our own good view, we would take the chance of disturbing those set-ups, which of course, laid claim to the best views.

We could see the adult owl, but my "back seat" perspective was criss-crossed with foreground limbs:

 Patience (not hard to have; it was terribly exciting to watch them!) paid off; and at last, 4 round yellow orbs were visible:

OF OLD PIERS AND FOWL PLAY

It came to mind while I was headed toward an appointment near my childhood neighborhood that I should check out a long-ago favorite place at the north-east end of Lake Washington.

I was not disappointed!  In fact, I was so excited to see the photo possibilities!

It has been turned into a wildlife preserve, with boardwalks making the wetlands very accessible.

Another perfect thing is that I was alone.

Here I started out, with so much anticipation!

At one boardwalk's end:

It was such a bleak day, and this gnarly old tree

presented a nice silhouette:

I was surprised to see this little clump of fall leaves; survivors where all else

was colorless:

Patience paid off.  A wood duck, looking very much like a true 

wooden decoy:

Not a lake monster, but a reflection:

I took this photo for the piers, but there is a cormorant 

in the distance:

This Great Blue Heron did not look so regally tall and "great" with his hunched-over, tip-toed, stealthy fishing walk:

Quintet of survivors:

The most frustration I had was in trying to make a photo of the Bufflehead.  Fishing must have been great as I mostly saw just ripples in the lake surface where they disappeared.  They were much too fast for my point-'n-shoot camera with a slow lens.  Nevertheless, it was exciting to watch them:

On the way back to my car, I heard before I saw a pair of Northern Flickers
high in a tree:

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The End.  I saw a lot of this posture!