Getting a closer look

 I manage to spot tiny things that are extraordinary when you focus on them. Maybe it's because I have been near-sighted for most of my life. Or maybe it's because I notice something and then photograph it.

 Some are less tiny but I want to get closer. 

 Others are larger still but still beckon me to take a closer look.

Stepping out of the stream of life

Great blue heron, Frye Cove-Puget Sound

I just finished reading James Herriot's "All Creatures Great and Small" and started "All Things Bright and Beautiful." Given how much I love nature and creatures great and small, it's a little surprising I haven't read the much-loved veterinarian's books until now. He also wrote children's books, several of which I read with my son when he was little. Two favorites are "Only One Woof" and "The Christmas Day Kitten." I could never make it through "The Christmas Day Kitten" without a quavering voice and a few tears.

Something that strikes me about Herriot's writing is a sense of balancing work with play, sadness with happiness. In "All Things..." he writes about stopping the car on the way to a veterinary call, just to enjoy the beautiful Yorkshire countryside:

"This form of self-indulgence had become part of my life and still is: a reluctance to come down from the high country; a penchant for stepping out of the stream of life and loitering on the brink for a few minutes as an uninvolved spectator."

Nisqually Reach - Puget Sound

Some of my best images were captured when I stepped out of the stream of life, rushing to work only to be stopped by an incredible sunrise. So, of course, I photograph it.

December sunrise - Mount Rainier

When I photograph something in nature - a beautiful scene or a wild eagle plucking a fish from the river - I am a spectator documenting, often without thinking. Later, when I'm downloading and editing images, I allow myself to experience the emotion I would have if I wasn't trying to capture a scene. I have several favorite images to share in my online Places Gallery.

I hope you will take some time to step out of the stream of life and enjoy.

Eagle's roost

The nest is empty but my favorite eagle extended family has returned from their summer fishing trip. This pair and some of their kin roost in the grove of trees near the nest. They have been gone for a few weeks, though. I assume teaching junior how to hunt. I have seen mama eagle flying over our house the past couple of mornings, headed for the Nisqually ridge and delta. I have also had glimpses of junior.

Tonight on our walk papa eagle was perched in a favorite snag. We watched for a few minutes, then continued on our walk. When we rounded the corner, he flew to a nearby tree. That's when I noticed that his mate was in the tree.

Later in our walk, I spotted four eagles flying off toward the delta into the setting sun. I will be adding to my Talons gallery soon.

I have been busy working on a program and publicity materials for Feels Like Home, the alumni art show I have been coordinating with a couple of friends from high school. The opening, which unfortunately I will have to miss, is September 30 in my hometown of Bordentown, NJ.

Cedar waxwing

I spent a couple of hours today picking blackberries with my neighbors (who made incredible jam in return). In early July, I spotted a couple of cedar waxwings in some evergreens on my usual dog walk. I didn't see them again until today. They weren't happy that humans were spending so much time in their blackberry area.

I heard them but would see them swoop down over the berry thicket, then back up high in the trees. When I photographed one today, he was munching on a pinecone. Cedar waxwings are in western Washington pretty much year-round. I saw a pair in one of the cherry trees on our street last summer, so it was fun seeing them more. They are beautiful birds and really do look like they're carved out of wax.

Visitors to the Birdie Spa

Earlier in the week, a native Douglas squirrel was picking up sunflower seeds under the birdie spa tree. Usually they are pretty shy when I encounter them in the woods but she must've been pretty hungry. She hopped into the tree when I approached but hopped right back down as soon as I walked past. She was gone by the time I got into the house.

She was back this morning and stuck around for quite awhile until a neighbor's cat came by. She protested LOUDLY. I yelled bad kitty and ran outside to chase the cat I recognized had picked off the baby goldfinch I tried to rescue a couple of months ago.

I'm pretty sure the squirrel got away. There are lots of goldfinch youngsters visiting the spa, with an occasional sparrow, house finch, and chickadee. I counted 20 on the lawn at the same time. They would fly off en mass whenever a car or walker came by.

I have seen female rufous hummingbirds and both male and female Anna's at my feeders and the flower baskets on the front porch. No male rufous though. I didn't think they headed south this early but I know they usually show up first in March and leave first, usually in September.

My current exhibit at 253 Collective - For the Birds & the Trees - will be open for another couple of weeks. I hope you'll stop by and check it out if you live in western Washington. The gallery is open Fridays and Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. or email me (wordandpicture@gmail.com) and I'll meet you at the gallery. 

Female rufous hummingbird

Glasshopper

I think this is the first time I've seen a grasshopper in my yard. This one was really a glasshopper, climbing up my kitchen window.

Ah grasshopper! You have much to learn and much karma to work through.

Love the otherworldly feel of these. The face reminds me of the hookah-smoking character (caterpillar) in the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland.

 If you live in western Washington, check out my new show at 253 Collective through September 9: For the Birds & the Trees.

Perching birds-great and small

Male Anna's hummingbird

It seems like I alternate photographing the largest and smallest birds. These were photographed two days apart.

The hummers, of course, are regularly visiting my feeders and flowers.

At the neighborhood eagle's nest, Junior is exploring farther than the trainer tree. I photographed these just five days ago. Junior waited for his mama but she hasn't been bringing dinner. It's time for him to learn how to hunt. 

Juvenile bald eagle - about 4 months old

Visit my Talons and Hummers online galleries or, if you are in western Washington, stop by 253 Collective - For the Birds & the Trees.