Oct 20 (Tue - day 75)
Camano Island, Washington
Weather - cloudy - temps mild, 50F, 10C



The shooting began as I stepped out of Gus for the first time today. I looked right into a beautiful spider web, adorned with some dew from last nights rain. It was backlit by the sunrise (through the clouds) and it made for a great shooting opportunity….problem was I had to hand-hold the camera because if I set the tripod on the ground, I lost the light. Oh well, did the best I could and was happy with the outcome.



I was on my own for the day, as Rae was babying a sore back. We had been planning to check on the snow geese while we were in the area and Rae’s mom wasn’t sure if the they had come in yet, so I took her out to the fields on Fir Island (island between the north and south Skagit River channels where the Skagit splits just south of Mount Vernon) to see. We saw what we later learned was one of the first flocks to return to the area for the winter. We were able to get within about 100 feet or so of the main flock. Occasionally the whole flock, of about 2,000 geese, would lift off the ground (impressive) and usually it was because an eagle was doing a fly-by.



There was an eagle nest near the road in the reserve and we saw an eagle near it, unfortunately it was too dark for photos and the eagle was on the bay side of the tree, probably watching for dinner. It would have been hard to shoot even if there had been better lighting as there were still some leaves on the tree.



Happy with my snow goose shots, we returned home with many tales to share. The adventure continues….



To see more of our waterfowl images click HERE



To see more of 'The Great Adventure 2009' images click HERE