Winter Raptor Surveys

I love conducting winter raptor surveys for East Cascades Audubon. I traverse two specific routes, counting & hopefully photographing each raptor that I encounter. Some days I have wonderful luck and other days not so much. This day in February was a good one! Many of the raptors you see on my website were found during surveys.

Bald Eagle taking off in flight. Shot at 500mm, cropped for detail.

Sometimes I can’t get the photo because they’re too far away; or in this instance, too close for my lens.

A Golden Eagle flying too close for my 500mm lens to capture, but look at that wing pattern!

To Blog or not to Blog....

My schedule is always packed with projects and volunteer commitments leaving little room for spontaneity, yet when something special comes up I manage to rearrange previous plans. I kept a blog on Wordpress for a few years until I simply ran out of time to continue. I’d rather be in the field taking photographs than sitting at my computer keeping a blog; and as is often the case, even adding my newest images for your perusal on this website. They’ll get here eventually, just probably not today.

‘Ferocious’ pika yawning and stretching on talus.

This image is one of my favorite pika shots. I was quietly sitting and watching this little pika running back and forth across the talus, popping in & out of crevice openings. He stopped to sun himself fairly close to me, then groomed and sunned again. Finally, he stretched and yawned, then fell asleep right in front of me. I jokingly call him my ‘ferocious’ pika, because he looks like he’s roaring!

I’m typically on a trail or back road Monday through Thursday. I co-own a gallery in Hood River (Made in the Gorge) that I manage on Fridays. Saturday & Sunday are generally crowded in the Gorge, so those are my days to ‘catch up’. All this to say I’m adding a blog here on my website, to test the waters and see if I can keep up with it.

I’m thinking at this point, the blog will be simple with a ‘photo of the day’ or two or three….not a detailed journal. Primarily birds and wildlife of the Columbia River Gorge since that’s my passion. I might repost something from my old blog from time to time for interest, to share a glimpse of history.

Pika sleeping in habitat.