At The Other End

Day 349: Day before yesterday, I posted a picture of myself near the headwaters of the Nisqually River. Today, I visited the other end, 78 miles downstream. The "Niz" (as it is called by many locals) has its source in Mount Rainier National Park, and flows through the communities of Ashford, Elbe, LaGrande, McKenna and Yelm before spreading into a broad delta at Puget Sound. An amazing eighty percent of its shoreline is protected, thanks to the efforts of the Nisqually Land Trust and its partners. I am proud to say that I serve at both ends, and today donned my Land Trust hat for our annual picnic.

Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

Day 324: "We now return you to our regularly scheduled program..." and a five-panel panorama of the spectacular Nisqually delta. I have been here many times when the tide was fully out and the Refuge landscape was nothing but grey tones and mud, but on this occasion, its beauty was revealed.

The boardwalk which takes you nearly two miles out to the gazebo from where this photo was taken is a marvelous piece of engineering. It stands high above the tide flat with its feet anchored somewhere deep in the mud. You never feel that you're walking on a rickety old dock here. It is as solid as a rock and built to last many decades despite the shifting tides below. Just remember to make a stop before you leave on your walk. There are no "facilities" along the route!

Great Horned Owl And Chicks, Bubo Virginianus

Day 122: I took advantage of the fact that I was already at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge to attend a workshop, and went for a stroll on the boardwalk. I'd been advised that a Great Horned Owl had a nest with three chicks in a tree near the Twin Barns, so I went prepared to take photos. The site was very easy to find. At least a dozen photographers were crowded onto one twenty-foot stretch of the boardwalk, enormous lenses trained on an object which looked to the naked eye like a stub or knot on an old tree. A bit of bobbing and weaving permitted me to get a clear shot of the parent bird through the tangle of branches, but the young were out of sight in a hole approximately six feet below her.

After photographing the parent, I continued my walk out to the observation platform at the end of the boardwalk, two miles from the visitor center. I saw several Great Blue Herons and a young Bald Eagle en route. When I returned to the area where the owl was nesting, I saw that she had moved to another location closer to the nest and was largely obscured by branches. The bevy of photographers had dwindled to two stalwarts who were hoping the little ones would show their faces. I could see activity in the hole, so took up a position and waited until their heads popped up. A third chick remained out of sight. Satisfied with my day's "bag" which also included a heron, I headed home.

After The Storm

Day 348: The Nisqually Land Trust's annual Salmon Bake is held in a small private park near Johnson Point overlooking the area of Puget Sound known as the Nisqually Reach. It is a lovely venue with views of both Anderson Island and Key Peninsula with a glimpse of McNeil Island in the distance between the two. Today's event was punctuated by half-inch hail, thunder, lightning and a brief but intense downpour which drove all of us under cover until it had passed over, leaving the bay to mirror the sky almost without a ripple. As tempting as this scene might appear to a kayaker, I am advised that the harbour is subject to strong and unpredictable currents.