World Bird Wednesday

Today, being a halfway decent day I decided to head to the Skagit Valley and check in on the new arrivals. The Skagit Valley is winter home to many birds, ducks and Raptors. I was lucky, it seems like the northern, tundra and Siberian birds like this weather. (aside: some people do too). Besides the birds pictured I saw many Heron, Hawks and various types of Ducks.

This big fellow--Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucoephalus)--was out hunting with several others and--Zounds!! I got a picture of the Eagle in flight.




The Snow Geese (Chen coerulescens) were busy gobbling up greens. They come down from the far north to Winter on the Skagit and Stillaguamish Valleys.





The Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) are back for the winter. They stay in harvested fields like this cornfield.



To see more birds or to participate go to: http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/

Fourth generation area Dairy Farm..........

....calling it quits. Another Dairy Farm in Snohomish County goes under. Read it here:
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20101129/NEWS01/711299899/1122



to see more old barns go to http://bluffareadaily.blogspot.com
Enjoy

Camouflage..........

Can you find the Varied Thrush (lxoreus naevius). I heard some scritch scratch noise in the leaves and there he was pretending I couldn't see him. Varied Thrush are NW residents.

North Fork Bridge~~~~Sunday Bridges

This is a long shot of the Bridge over the North Fork of the Skagit River with Mt. Baker in the background.


To view more bridges from around the world or to participate click the bridge in the upper right hand column corner.
Enjoy!!

House Hunting

It was a gray and drizzling day as I made my way across the Stillaguamish Valley checking on the various Eagle nests. I didn't think I'd see any eagles but here are a pair checking out the nest. they are probably the same ones that come back to it every year. I have taken their pics before but it was exciting to see them again. Like old friends.

I went to visit my Mother who is doing fine.


Click on the image to get a closer look.

A little birdie told me.........Sky watch

I guess this little Hawk asked me where the heck the blue sky went as he sat in a nearby tree looking at me. The sky was just slate gray and chilly. MB




To see more skies from around the world or to participate go to:
www,skyley.blogspot.com
Enjoy!!

Being thankful

A happy thanksgiving to all US celebrants
these are just some stuff.

Moonscapes and snowscapes~~~~~~Sepia Scenes

Total close up of the moon--what do you think? Awesome--yes??
Well I just took a picture of the snow and did a sepia treatment and here you are--The Moon. That's what Hollywood does to us and maybe the guvmint too.




To see more scenes in Sepia go to www.sepiascenes.blogspot.com and enjoy.


We had a big early winter storm blow through here the past two days. It was cold, windy and snowy---kinda neat---it never lasts here anyway. Not too many storms like this in November. But today started out with the sun shining and all in all a nice day.





Some Ice Images down by the waterfall.






Do you see the horse?

Down in the valley.......Old Barns

This is a dandy barn with a great view of Mt. Baker.




Trot on over to Tricias and check out some more old barns.
www.bluffareadaily.blogspot.com

A little birding today........Mosaic Monday

Today seemed like a good day to go down to the valley and check on the bird population. Skagit and Stillaguamish Valleys are wintering over areas for many birds and Raptors.
I earlier showed pics of the newly arrived Snow Geese and Trumpeter Swan. We have a large resident population of various Hawks and even Eagles but many more are arriving daily. It is a thrill to see so many. I have a few pictured here in my collage.
Saw quite a few Eagles. The one pictured was just minding his own business when another one tried landing at the same spot and they had a little ruckus and one flew off and they actually talked to each other. Very musical notes. Imagine!!
All in all there were a lot of different birds out and then there was a grand sunset. Whew!!! MB


To view more marvelous mosaics go to:http://www.dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

I always do what I am told~~~~~~Sunday Bridges

While driving down the highway I saw this sign and thought I can do that.



The sign said "Draw Bridge" so I did and then some.

To see more gorgeous bridges from all over the world clicl on the great golden bridge in the upper right column.
Enjoy!!

Christmas Cactus?

Or Thanksgiving cactus? Well both actually. It is Schlumbergera truncata or sometimes called Zygocactus.

Wet and soggy here~~~~Sky Watch

Wet and rainy and drizzle drizzle all day today. I decided to run on in to town in the afternoon and as I got off the hill and closer to town I could see a break in the clouds and even a spot of BLUE! I went down to the river as it wends it's way west, sat on the boat launch and took this picture. And this one too. I think it is going to rain again.

To view more wonderful skies from all over the world or to participate go to :
http://www.skyley.blogspot.com

A view from almost the top

I took this a few weeks ago. Cloudy, gloomy but no rain at the moment. This is near where I live and looking down into the Skagit Valley. Skagit Bay is in the background and you can see Interstate 5 cutting across the land left to right.
The large land mass across the bay would be Whidbey Island. Harvest is over but green fields are grass growing for hay. It is always green here.

A beautiful day......

After all the rain and wind last night today turned out to be fairly nice. No rain, no wind and some sun did shine. Around 3Pm as I was driving into Stanwood the sun was shining through the clouds and looked like it was blessing this farm. MB

Wet, wild and windy

Our power went out around 9PM last night and just came on a few minutes ago at 9ishAM. It was a wet and wild night producing images like the one I am posting. At least it isn't cold---well not freezing.

This isn't an old barn and it is still a working barn.

Sorry I am so late but I suppose no ones knows but me. LOL MB


Mosey on over to Tricia's to view more colorful barns:

http://bluffareadaily.blogspot.com/

Me and my Mother and Mosaic Monday

A collage of myself and my Mother.
Upper left is me at age 7--trying not to laugh and show my missing two front teeth--next is my Mother at age eight and the bottom row is my Mother at age 16.




To see more mosaics please go visit Mary at:http://www.dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

Trumpeter Swan

The Trumpeter Swan are back in the Valley. They come from their breeding grounds up north--Alaska. The head back home in Februray and March. they leave sooner than the Snow Geese do.
Note on the adult Swan the Black beaks and legs---this may show you the difference from the Swan you see in zoos or parks.
The Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator, is the largest native North American bird, if measured in terms of weight and length, and is (on average) the largest living waterfowl species on earth. It is the North American counterpart of the European Whooper Swan

Lunch Buddies.

Snowflake likes to share lunch with Macaronie.

Everett evening sky

Taken at Everett Marina Nov.7th


To view more sky shots go to www.skyley.blogspot.com

Naval Station Everett & Walter Schirra

November 11th is Veterans Day. Salute all our Veterans!!!

When I was in Everett sunday taking pictures of the various fishing and pleasure boats I happened to see this huge ship in front of the Naval Station. Now I know there are several ships there the main one being the USS Abraham Lincoln an aircraft Carrier. But this was not the Lincoln. So of course I took a picture and then had to research it. My friend -the Princess- is the one that found out what kind it is.
A T-AKE class Ammunition Dry Cargo Ship. It is enormous.It is the Walter Schirra---remember him?

USNS Wally Schirra is the eighth ship of the T-AKE class, a program of up to 14 ships, the first 11 of which will serve as combat logistics force ships and the last three of which are expected to be part of the Maritime Prepositioning Force (Future). As a combat logistics force ship, USNS Wally Schirra will help the Navy maintain a worldwide forward presence by delivering ammunition, food, fuel, and other dry cargo to U.S. and allied ships at sea.

As part of Military Sealift Command's Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force, Wally Schirra is designated as a United States Naval Ship and will be crewed by 124 civil service mariners and 11 Navy sailors. The ship is designed to operate independently for extended periods at sea and can carry two helicopters and additional military personnel to conduct vertical replenishment. The ship is 689 feet in length, has an overall beam of 106 ft, a navigational draft of 30 feet, displaces approximately 42,000 tons, and is capable of reaching a speed of 20 knots using a single-shaft, diesel-electric propulsion system.

The first picture I took and the second is a file photo.

More boats at Everett Marina

I took these pictures of boats at the Everett marina the same day I took the pics of the fishing boats. It rained early and the sun came out and stayed until almost evening and then rained again. In between it was beautiful as were the boats.
These sailors had a wet and wonderful time but it is time to moor the boat.


The sun came out between rain showers to make beautiful reflections.


Don't mess with this guy.


Time to head for home before the rains start again----and they did!

Old barns

I had several local barns to show but since the rains arrived I thought I would show you what our horses huddle under if they don't want to butt up to a tree. This isn't a very old structure but it is the nature of horses to rub on and ruin things. Fenceces and shelters are fair game to them. The ponies are over under the eversheltering Cedar tree. (Smarties)

Click on the photo and you can see the rain coming down.






Gallop on over to Tricia's place to see more barns:http://bluffareadaily.blogspot.com/

Fishin'

One of the nice things about living where I do is that one day I can be way high up in the Mountains and the next on the waterfront. Everything is so close. Today I met a friend at the Everett Waterfront and inbetween rain sprinkles, when the sun was out I managed to take some pics of fishing boats among other things. Great sky up there too.

Remember to click on the image to enlarge it.


To see many more mosaics go to:http://www.dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

Dad did it!! for Sunday Bridges

This is the walking bridge into the Trail of Cedars over the Skagit River at Newhalem.



To view more bridges click on the golden bridge in the upper right hand corner. Enjoy!