As I look through the photos I’ve taken in 2022, I realize there aren’t as many as in years past. Blame it on the dogs! They didn’t eat my homework, however they have kept my hands pretty busy when we’re walking 🐾. My iPhone 13pro has been my workhorse, though I did get out for a couple shoots with the Panasonic.
Pacific Ocean wave action is always a joy to behold. Above are three shots that capture both the force and power of the waves, and the play of light through and on the water.
Above a beautiful Steller’s Jay visiting my deck seed-feeder. These are resident birds which I enjoy seeing year-round. Below, a cheeky peek at a Red-necked Phalarope as is dips into the marsh pond at the Breakers for breakfast!
Sunrise, sunset and moody clouds.
Just in case you didn’t see this posted on Wordless Wednesday, the prize photo of 2022 is Daisy in the tree after a squirrel, with stalwart brother Max watching from solid ground!
Thank you to Tina for an inviting end of the year challenge. I remember when WordPress stopped posting the weekly challenge and Tina, Patti, Amy and Anne-Christine stepped up to fill the void. Thank you all, and I look forward to another year with new hosts and guests to keep us on our toes.
Cheers to the New Year! Please remember to honor our earth, be kind and stay safe.🐾
Here’s to Anne-Christine for inviting us to select photos of “perfect” patterns, with the understanding that perfect is always in the eye of the beholder! Here are some patterns in nature that I enjoy.
I’ll start with another in my series of Dune Runes. Above Alloniscus has woven multiple trails forming a net around the jewels of Yellow Sand Verbena (Abronia latifolia). With a bit of wind or a wash of wave, the pattern will vanish.
The deeply weathered wood on this aged cedar stump spoke volumes to me. Gnarled and bumpy, yet smooth and worn it has incredible character. On the right is a recent photo of wave action on Long Beach after a stormy high tide. Often the wave pattern left in the sand is rippled and smooth, this one stood out to me for it’s deeply carved furrows.
Patterns and colors on birds are part of the art of identifying them. Whether simple or intricate, bird feathers have always fascinated me. This one, I believe is a hawk wing-feather. I love its wide wavy motion on one side of the quill, that is echoed on the other side.
Above, the reflection of a cloud dappled sky on the rippling surface of Odell Lake mesmerized me as I rocked away in the boat. The patterns were always changing yet remained perfect in the moment.
I’ll conclude with photos of mature seed-heads or spikes of the wheat plant, with its lovely braided pattern. In my teenage years I lived in the Palouse area of Washington State, a prominent wheat growing region. When autumn came around, harvesting combines would rumble through the hills day and night, stirring up dust to cause many a harvest moon. In their wake, the combines would leave row after row of chaff in undulating patterns upon the gently rolling hills.
In this joyous season of the year, please honor our earth, be kind and stay safe.🐾
A hearty thank you to Patti, who leads the challenge this week asking us to “explore diagonals as a way to add visual interest and depth to our photos, as well as a sense of action.” For this challenge I limited myself only to photos taken in 2022. Some I have featured before on Wordless Wednesday. Others are new. I invite you to visually jump into the scene and I hope you enjoy the views!
Standing on a point above Odell Lake, I wanted to focus on the beautiful color of the water. A deer trail, the angle of a tree trunk and tree limbs help draw our eye there.
Our sun was rising in the east as bands of clouds hovered above the intersection of beach and dune berm, creating a dramatic glow.
An almost full moon lingers at almost sunrise on Odell Lake, Oregon. The lines of the dock (left) and the breakwater (right) point our attention toward the little bit of moonlight reflecting on the water.
It’s no secret, I love the natural intersection of light, critter prints, and sand motion that I call “Dune Runes.” This one has so many different diagonals criss-crossing one another, it demanded I snap a photo!
I’ll close with this shot of Max and Daisy taking me for a walk on a cloudy afternoon at Long Beach, WA. Once again the striking flow of the clouds creates a diagonal pull, leading us toward the end of the road.
Whether you go horizontal, vertical or diagonal, please honor our earth, be kind and stay safe.🐾
No matter the season of year, in our usually damp Pacific Northwest region, moss of many varieties thrives. I have always loved the feel of moss under my fingers and under my feet. It adds a soft quietness to many trails.
The sandy flatness of Long Beach, WA every day provides a clean slate for all sorts of textures to appear. From upper left dune grass whipped by the wind creates a delicate pattern of lines upon the built up sand. In the background are small tracks of a field mouse. Next is a path to the beach, well trodden by people and dogs and frozen in place on a winter night. In the upper right photo we see where a whole flock of small birds gathered to forage or rest. Bottom left is another critter I just learned about from Steve Morey, called sea gooseberries. These are smaller than the ones he features on his blog: https://theoutershores.com/2022/11/23/shoreside-textures/. On the bottom right, after a king tide swept frothy foam and debris all over the shorelines a variety of shorebirds hunt for grub.
Nature provides a panoply of textures to admire and enjoy. I’ll finish this post with some mushrooms, beautiful to see but deadly (or close to it) to eat! The textures all around the mushrooms are equally engaging.
Thanks to this week’s guest host Jude of Cornwall in Colors for this challenge. It is a true honor to be asked to host LAPC, and is a challenge in itself for the host to visit and comment on all the entries! Kudos to you, Jude.
Wherever you find yourself, take a look around to enjoy the many textures of life, and please honor our earth, be kind and stay safe.🐾
At our home on the Long Beach Peninsula, Washington State USA, the birds are my main attraction. Though there are many other wild creatures, I rarely see them close enough to photograph unless they are no longer living. Seals and whales have washed up on the shore, and in the night I have heard (but not seen) live coyotes and tree frogs. Consequently, resident Black-tailed Mule Deer are a delight to see and photograph.
I have encountered the local Black Bears in person once, and again from a distance. I prefer from a distance!
To qualify as wildlife doesn’t mean being a red-blooded mammal! Many of the creatures I encounter on my excursions are insects and critters of the sea. Here are but a few.
Still, what I love most is the abundance of bird life on this peninsula at the western edge of the continent. I have delved into observing, photographing then doing research on the birds I’ve seen so that often I can identify them when I see them again. The older I get, the more important it is to me to learn!
In the interest of time, I will leave the names of these birds for you to guess. Or, you could email me if you really want to know. For now I sign off with a thanks to this week’s host for another outdoor adventure.
Wherever wildlife finds you, please honor our earth, be kind and stay safe.🐾
Walking With Eagles is a collection of original poems and photographs by Lindy Low Le Coq. A lifelong naturalist, amateur photographer and bird enthusiast, Lindy’s verse, composition and photographs open a window into the essence of her subjects. Her poems and photography reflect the rich natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest.
Bald Eagles mature over the course of five years. Walking With Eagles invites the reader to take a poetic and visual tour of this odyssey.
view ~ Walking With Eagles ~ in top menu bar for a preview, though the folio is much nicer!
