Six of Eight

 

Got to see all the g-kids this weekend and 6 of the 8 were willing to pose for pictures. You take wins whenever you can get them. 

Seattle bridge lift

 

A bit nippy out to be taking the boat out but maybe it is work and not play. Seattle looking blue on an overcast day. 

Crater Lake National Park

 

Had a wonderful visit to Crater Lake National Park prior to my business trip to Portland and Seattle. It was a lot of driving, but worth it. Crater Lake is my 30th national park and I have another 18 to go on my official park list. (Technically, there are 63 national parks but I am concentrating on those in the lower 48 that don't need a boat to visit.) Crater Lake is one of our smallest national parks as the rim road is just 23 miles long. However, it has some distinctions. First off at 1,963 feet it is the deepest lake in the United States and holds some of the cleanest, clearest water anywhere in the world. Since the crater was formed by an eruption, no water runs in or out of the crater, except via rain water or evaporation. So, those facts make it a cool place to visit. I was able to get in and out last weekend, which was quite lucky as a snowstorm rolled in a few days later and it looks like park roads will soon be closed for the rest of the season. Roads may not open until late June as the park has a very short visiting season. At almost 9,000 feet, you could feel the difficulty in breathing as even a modest walk gets you out of breathe. Besides the success of visiting the park, I was also able to record two western bird species that I hadn't seen before so it was a nice win all around. More pictures to come during the week.  

Anyway, 30 down and 18 to go. 

Kankakee River Bathtub waterfalls

 

Not sure how this waterfall got its name but I see online that it is called The Bathtub. Maybe because of the shallow steady water flow? It would be a nice river to walk in during the spring and summer. Water is probably knee high at best. Might be deeper after a rain, of course. Anyway, no new birds, although a ton of Robins were around. In the lake behind we lots and lots of Canada Geese as well. That was all I was able to see in my brief stop at this park. 

San Antonio Eclipse Shot #2

 

Got so many dramatic shots of the sky during this annular eclipse that I had to show one or two more. Those deeper clouds were why I was trying to get north of town as the sky behind me but quite a way further north was clear. I just had to cross my fingers and hope that the sun stayed mostly in the clear, which is somehow what happened. I heard some around the area did get clouded out. This was about the worst of it as the skies cleared a bit more as the full eclipse approached. Lucky once again. 

San Antonio Annular Eclipse

 

I was driving north of San Antonio like crazy trying to get away from the clouds (the sky behind me is clear) but the clouds added drama to a beautiful eclipse. Without the clouds to darken the sun, I would not be able to shoot without a filter, so in that sense, I was very lucky. It was a crazy eclipse because it did not get totally dark but you did feel the light change at mid-eclipse and the temps cooled. Far more of that in a full solar eclipse, when the moon is closer to the earth and can block out the whole sun. Had a great time and now really pumped for the full show in April, when another solar eclipse hits the United States, the last easy to get to eclipse in my lifetime. 

My Spark Bird

 

My "spark bird" was the American Goldfinch. During the spring and summer of 2020 while working outside in my backyard, I would occasionally see glimpses of this bright (in the summer) yellow bird. It got me interested in seeing if I could get that bird to a backyard feeder. From there--off to the races. While I get dozens of American Goldfinches a day visiting the feeder, I realized that I had all kinds of bird pictures from around the country in my photo catalog and after gathering them up, I started to try to identify what they were. That lead me to bird id books and apps, better long distances lenses and with that help, beginning to take more bird pictures locally and from my trips around the country. I am now up to 274 species, 33 of which I have seen or heard from the backyard. With that behind me, it is getting harder to find new species. While there are still a few "easier" local birds which I do not have yet, most of the 700 or so species left in the US, I have to see while traveling or during Spring and Fall migration. So, lots of species to go. On to the next.... 

Birding with the Minniti's

 

Didn't get too many birds but I did get a Peregrine and a Clio, Effie and Echo, along with mom, Stephanie.

Clio also got a shot of me and Echo and a selfie that I crashed. 

And we got one yellow-rumped warbler. So, it was a nice fun walk. 

Grey Catbird

 

This is the first bird that I heard and recognized by sound, before I saw one. That's because it does sound like a cat. Easiest bird to hear and quickly identify if you pay attention. I wasn't even going to shoot this shot as Catbird's are pretty boring--all shades of gray. However, when I saw how it turned out from the camera, I am glad I did. Wonderful background. 

That's not right

 

If you are the white car in the middle, it is not going to be a good day. Especially at 180 mph. Amazingly, no one was hurt but a number of cars from this point didn't get to finish the race. 

NASCAR Commute?

 

How fast do you run in a NASCAR truck series race at a track like Talledega? About 180 mph. And be prepared to have another truck right on your tail the whole time. By the way, it is hard to show speed in a still picture. One way is to blur the shot. But not blur it too much. Tried that here. Maybe a bit too blurry but I like the colors, especially of the Tide car.