Winter Hummer

This guy - a wintering Anna's hummingbird - isn't used to me yet. He knows I bring out the food and has seen me several times during the freezing temperatures and snow we had last week. He's more cautious than last winter's visitors. An Anna's that wintered with me in 2008 posed for several photographs. He regularly greeted me as I hung the feeder.

I have a collection of hummingbirds from Washington and Arizona in my Fauna gallery. If you would like to purchase a fine art print, my supplier is offering a 30% off sale through midnight on November 29: Hummer gallery on Imagekind. These are exceptional prints that are archival quality - last 100 or more years. Imagekind framing is also high quality.

We have been experiencing some very interesting sunsets this month. Low dark gray clouds and brilliant gold light. While I was pretending not to photograph my cautious winter hummer, I knocked off a couple of shots of the sky.

This image was the only one that picked up some sort of reflected light. I prefer to think of it as Winter Cloud Spirit.

Thanksgiving Weekend Specials

Umbrella Parade © Kate Lynch

Umbrella Parade is my signature image and featured on my business card. I photographed it a few months after moving to Washington State from Arizona. In a way, it is symbolic of my move. The parade was held early in 2001 as part of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Tacoma Art Museum. People paraded from the old museum site to the new one.

Thanksgiving Weekend Specials: This and several other favorite images are available at a 30% discount through November 29. 

November 24-Mountain moods

I photographed this yesterday afternoon - sunset arrives at 4:30 these days - from the same viewpoint as the Rainier Moonrise below.


Rainier Moonrise by Kate Lynch

My printer Imagekind is offering a 25% discount through midnight on Thanksgiving. This is a huge bargain, especially framed. I put together a suggested mat and frame setup, however everything can be customized. The discount code is GIVETHANKS. Check it out by clicking on the photo or link above.

November 23-Snow

A winter wonderland in the South Sound.

November 21-First Snow

This is a really early snow for western Washington at least near Puget Sound. The Cascades and Olympics often have first snowfall in early to mid-November. The snow didn't start sticking to the ground until dusk. I can still hear the neighborhood kids in the park across the street.

I'm looking forward to more wintry views. Photographs from past winters can be found in my Winter gallery.

Melting snowflakes up close

Really close. These mushrooms are tiny, about one inch tall.

November 20-Fall 'Flowers'

Well, they are sort of flowers. They really are mushrooms and some sort of flower-like fungus. They are like jewels hidden under vines or fallen leaves.

November 19-Northwest Critter Favorites

One of the many cool things about Northwest Trek is that you can see animals in close proximity to one another that would be rare or just not geographically possible. This is one of those opportunities - moose and mountain goat hanging out together. 

Mountain goats are very expressive. I got way too many shots of them, so it's tough to pick my favorite. This one comes close.

This elk was a very cooperative model.

November 16-Coyotes at play

We caught sight of coyotes at Northwest Trek chasing and playing. Here are some favorites.

November 15-Night Talons

I loved this snowy owl glaring at me from behind a fern. He spent most of the time we were with him moving his head all around. This is one of the few shots I got of him with both eyes. Otherwise he looked like a big feathery mushroom!

The barn owl was quite a character. She clearly wanted the perch the other owl was sleeping on. She did everything she could to draw attention to herself - bobbing her head back and forth, stamping her feet, flapping her wings. The other owl slept through all the drama.

I will be regularly adding these new images to my Fauna gallery. Please let me know your favorites. You can leave me a comment here without having to sign up. 

November 14-Horned Creatures

Roosevelt elk

Mama bison gave birth in August (unusual timing).

My friend Ann and I did a photo tour at Northwest Trek yesterday. It was a cool overcast day with a bit of mist - perfect for animal watching. I will post a few favorites here, starting with horned creatures. Later this week, I'll post images of coyotes, wolves, hawks, and owls.

Mountain goats

Bighorn sheep

November 9-More creek salmon

Fiscus Creek is a small tributary of Kennedy Creek where chum salmon make their way upstream in water as shallow as six inches to about two feet. Most of my photographs are of salmon in Fiscus. Kennedy Creek was running pretty high, so it was tougher to spot salmon.

The surrounding woods are draped in mosses, ferns, and lichen. Here are a few more favorites from Sunday. I have two galleries of fish images online: Fins and Tumwater Falls.

November 7-Spawning Salmon

The Kennedy Creek Salmon Trail opened this weekend, so we made our way out to Totten Inlet to cheer the salmon on home. The trail includes interpretative signs and some wonderful volunteers who make visiting the trail possible.

The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife says that Kennedy Creek is one of the most productive chum salmon production streams in the state, with an average of 41,000 spawners each year.

Pacific salmon live in the ocean for up to five years (rarely, six), then return to their native streams to spawn. Unlike Atlantic salmon, Pacific salmon die after spawning.

I will be adding images from today to my galleries this week: Salmon Galleries.

 

November 2-Wings 2011 Calendar

I have gathered some of my favorite images of hummingbirds, barn swallows, bees, butterflies, dragonflies, and a few others in this new calendar. Wings 2011 can be ordered through my Zazzle.com store.

I love designing calendars but it seems, these days, that most of us get at least couple of really nice calendars free from our credit union or a charity. I don't make any money on these calendars. It's become a kind of tradition for me to create them. 

Here is another image from my new Northwest 2011 Calendar, also available through Zazzle. Enjoy!

November 1-Northwest 2011 Calendar

I have added some of the images I have posted to this blog to my new Northwest 2011 calendar, now available online here: Northwest 2011 Calendar. If you have favorite images that you would like to see included in a future calendar, please let me know.

I have another calendar - Wings - that I will be posting later this week. Wings will include birds, bees, butterflies, and dragonflies photographed throughout the year, including everybody's favorite - Roar!
See my Fauna galleries to get an idea of some of the images.