Thursday, February 25, 2010

Padilla Bay

Debby signed us up for a walking trip around Padilla Bay, the Skagit River estuary terminus. There's a two mile walk along a dike through the wetland, and then in the adjacent town of Bay View, there is an interpretive center and an upland trail. I took a few pictures. The weather was overcast, a dull grayish day that spells not quite enough light for using my tele-converter.

A barn and tree piqued Debby's visual interest.


Padilla Bay is very shallow along the coast, becoming a mud flat during lower tides. One area of the mud seems to rise permanently above high tide. I needed a wider lens for this one.
















Debby likes chunks of driftwood.
















There were a variety of birds. Most common were Mallard ducks, but I didn't find any convincing photo opportunities. There were also fields of snow geese, but too far away to see any detail. I managed to photograph the remaining six species I identified. None yielded me any bragging rights. I include only the image of a pair of Canada geese, whose composition recommends it. None of the others is nearly the equal of earlier photos I have taken of each species in better light: glaucous gull, Brandt's cormorant, great blue heron, American robin, red-winged blackbird.
















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