FROGGY MORNING/FOGGY MORNING

Two days ago: the last of pouring rain.  Frogs, both gigantic and small, enjoy our own pond.

I can almost see this guy smiling.

This morning, glorious and long-awaited sunshine arrived!  Sunrise was swift, and I barely got down to the Mill Pond

before I saw the end of the show.

I was grabbing for the tails of retreating color to make the first shot:

"On Golden Pond":

 Fading:

Still fading, but I saw it was turning into a curious, old photograph kind of color:

This is almost more enjoyable to me than the first, golden one.

The sunrise colors are definitely gone, but I love the tin-type effect

left behind in the atmosphere: 

( I use no computerized filters or enhancements; I had to experiment with camera settings to capture

it.)

ENGAGING ANACORTES

The first official day-long ramble of the year: Anacortes!

Heading north, Pat and I had to exit the freeway before even reaching our destination because Mt. Baker was such a blatant attention-getter.  Of course, we scoped the farm roads for the best view: 

On a trail near a marina we were rewarded not only with blue heron and eagle, but the

first hummingbird sighting of the year.  So early!  He chose 

his neighborhood well; location, location, location:

More trail-walking, with lichen even on an old fence-post:

The island offered up a favorite subject, barns: 

Hee, hee, I love blue heron, but this pair in their resting mode is really comical! 

This gnarly old tree had a fascinating patina and pattern:

And a window to a view:

Our kind of luck!  The daffodils in Skagit Valley "came" early this year and took everyone by surprise.

No tourists were clogging the roads.  We could park and walk any place

we wanted with no one else around: 

It had already been the perfect day, but this was the cherry on top: 

MILLPOND MORNING

This morning's early-morning walk told me two things:

Suddenly it's spring!

and

I had better get myself over to the Millpond

because of the ground fog.

Blossoms in the woods, and still-bare trees against blue sky:

Yep, just a couple of minutes from home, I was early-enough to

catch some fog:

And, surprise! -  new residents, or visitors:

Tufted Cormorants! I have never seen them on the millpond before!

Not a particularly great shot of Mt. Si, 

but I feel compelled to capture it every time I shoot at the pond: 

RETURN TO NISQUALLY

It was time to check out the Nisqually Delta Wildlife Preserve

to hopefully meet this year's new baby owls.

The trips of the previous 2 years have paid off in that I got great views of twins, and then triplets (can be seen on my blog for February 2013 and 2014).

It was a perfect day; refreshingly cool air and overhead sun, 

and I could be alone as I hiked.

Wrinkly new wild rose petals: 

Flag of the new season, a backlit willow leaf: 

This old snaggly trunk gets slimmed down after each winter's storm: 

And my pilgrimage paid off!  Well, sorta'.  This was the best view

I could get.  The owlet twins have actually fledged early and no longer keep together.

Previous years show them closer because they were at the nest. 

One can hardly tell this is an owl!

I hiked longer this year because it was low tide, and I

wanted to go out over the tide flats.

Whereas the owlet-sighting was practically nil, I got up close

and personal with 3 different Blue Heron.  I love the heron!  If there are heron, 

it seems that all is right with the woods and wetlands.

It seems that I am much too close to the bird, but I was actually keeping in one place and trying to be quite still.  He came right up near me!

Then I realized that I hadn't bothered him at all.  He didn't even notice me.

He was focused on his lunch!   

Looks like it is Mole ala Parchment Reeds: 

Straight-up sun at noontime is usually the least desirable

photo-shooting time because the light is bright and flat.

However, what struck me as completely beautiful was that the standing

tide-flat water appeared blue:

So blue!

And other-worldly: 

I liked the complementary colors of the boardwalk supports:

I "collected" a new variety of waterfowl, the

Northern Shoveler: 

 As always, I hope for a barn portrait: 

MONTANA AUTUMN

Okay, I just finished posting only a tiny sampling of pics from

the trip to Michigan.

I am scrambling to play Catch-up because I am starting to ramble out again with my camera, and the material will get back-logged even more. 

This post will be only a sampling of another backroads

trip in the fall; this one to Montana.

But, first on the way to Montana comes Eastern Washington's Palouse: 

What used to seem like stark landscape has become beautiful to me now,

especially with such fabulous clouds: 

Getting to Kootenai Falls is a hike well worth the time: 

And Glacier National Park was drenched in autumn colors: 

I love Tamarack Trees!  

There is something magical about a fir tree changing colors in the fall.  But before that,

the green is so feathery and chartreuse:

We drove a little dirt road to where we could go no further, high and  

higher above Yaak Pass.  The Tameracks were stretching as if they had to be the tallest in the world: 

And they were changing colors too: 

This specimen was the first fully-changed one we saw:

Funny what catches my attention while hiking:  

a puddle reflecting a Tamerack tree:

McDonald Falls:

This is part of a hillside left barren from a huge forest fire.

It is tragic to see, but I loved making the stark monochromatic photo:

"Going to the Sun" Highway was closed for the winter, so we drove clear around

Glacier Park to enter the east side at Many Glacier Lake:

   

Picnic place where we experienced hail:

At the end of the day, returning from a long hike near dusk, I had

given up the thing at the top of my Bucket List for yet another year: to see a moose up close and personal without any moose paparazzi diminishing the personal experience.

Well, he showed up to oblige me; spotted first by our daughter.  I stalked him for many minutes! Alone!