Lindy Low LeCoq

~ Wordless Wednesday ~

Posted on May 20, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

Mature Bald Eagle feeding

Breeding Snowy Plover

Handsome Mallard drake and hen

Posted in Birding, birds, nature, nature photography, ornithology, pacific northwest, photography, Wordless Wednesday | Tagged Birding, birds, Long Beach Peninsula, nature, nature photography, ornithology, pacific northwest, photography, Wordless Wednesday | Leave a comment

~ Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #97: Pastimes ~

Posted on May 19, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

When I retired, eight years ago, my colleagues would ask me, “What are you going to do with your time?” My standard answer was that I planned to focus my energy on the creative passions I’d tucked in around the edges of life all those years!

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Writing has been a passion since high school. Over these 8 years I’ve completed three short stories, which I also illustrated with original color pencil drawings.

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Birding is a shared passion in my family. With more time to do research and a good camera to capture images, my knowledge has grown right along with my photography archives!

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Growing up, my curiosity about natural life, flora and fauna, was encouraged and rewarded. My desire to make things using found objects goes back to grade school!

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Finding a Leather Sea Star dead on the beach (the first time I’d seen one dead or alive on the peninsula), prompted me get a shadow box and create a presentation of beach finds. Clockwise from upper left; Volcano Limpet, small Dungeness crab, Western Nassa Mud Snail, and Acorn barnacles.

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The idea of making “treasure boxes” intrigued me, and I’ve fashioned two so far.

While here at The Breakers the past two months, I’ve also expressed my passion for landscape gardening. The little garden I adopted last year has flourished, and two more are coming along nicely.

But wait, there’s more! However this is quite enough to give you a look into the other pastimes I enjoy along with keeping this blog alive and fresh.

Wishing everyone safe harbor as we navigate uncharted waters.

🐾

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #97- Pastimes

Posted in Art, Birding, bugs & critters, landscape gardening, Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, nature, nature photography, ornithology, pacific northwest, photography, Writing | Tagged arts, Birding, color pencil drawings, landscape gardening, Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Long Beach Peninsula, nature, nature photography, pacific northwest, writing | 5 Comments

~ Sunday Surprise ~

Posted on May 19, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

Sunday morning, while I was making coffee and getting ready for our walk, Jello started baying at the sliding glass door and trying like crazy to climb over it! The last time she made this kind of a ruckus, was when she saw a coyote in the meadow below our deck.

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I ran to the living room, grabbed my LUMIX and was able to get a few shots of this American black bear as it made its way across the grasslands and disappeared into the trees.

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Jello continued to bay from the deck, hackles on high, and expressing her disbelief that I wasn’t going to take her out on the chase that very minute!

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When we did get outside, Jello’s nose was very busy scanning the grasslands and trails for any trace of Ursus americanus. Luckily the bear was long gone by then!

Wishing everyone safe harbor as we navigate uncharted waters.

🐾

Posted in Beagles, nature, nature photography, outdoors, pacific northwest, photography, wildlife | Tagged beagles, black bear, Long Beach Peninsula, nature photography, pacific northwest, photography, wildlife | 1 Comment

~ Report From the Edge of a Continent ~ Sunshine’s Reflections ~

Posted on May 15, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

Wilson’s Snipe

Canada Goose

My beagle and walking companion, Jello.

Sunshine’s Reflections

Posted in Beagles, Birding, birds, nature photography, pacific ocean, photography, Report from the Edge of a Continent | Tagged birds ornithology, nature, nature photography, pacific ocean, Report from the Edge of a Continent, sunshine's reflections | Leave a comment

~ CFFC ~ Sense of Taste ~

Posted on May 14, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

In a recent Lens-Artists Weekly Photo Challenge, I included photos of the fresh Dungeness crab salad I was preparing.

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Organic romaine lettuce, hard boiled quail eggs, celery, and freshly cracked Dungeness crab with wedges of fresh lemon.

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Mallard ducks are dabblers. They bob their beaks into the pond feeding upon the abundant marsh grasses below the surface.

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These youngsters love their greens!

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Hummingbirds feed on the nectar of flowers, and take respite in the availability of feeders like this one.

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On a whim, we put this up on the deck of our condominium. What a joy it is to see both Rufous and Anna’s hummingbirds visiting it every day!

Wishing everyone safe harbor as we navigate uncharted waters.

cffc

Posted in Birding, birds, Cee's Fun Foto Challenge, food, nature photography, pacific northwest, photography | Tagged Birding, birds, Cee's Fun Foto Challenge, food, Long Beach Peninsula, nature photography, pacific northwest | 2 Comments

~ Wordless Wednesday ~ Report from the Edge of a Continent ~

Posted on May 13, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

Version 3 Version 2

Wishing everyone safe harbor as we navigate uncharted waters.

Posted in climate change, nature, nature photography, pacific northwest, photography, Report from the Edge of a Continent, Skywatch Friday, Wordless Wednesday | Tagged Long Beach Peninsula, nature, nature photography, pacific northwest, photography, Wordless Wednesday | Leave a comment

~ Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #96: Cropping The Shot ~

Posted on May 12, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

Lovely as it is, especially on Mother’s Day, yet with a bit of cropping it’s even better.

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Shortening the foreground brings the focus to mama Mallard and chicks.

P1110725 Reducing left and right borders brings the hen’s eye in line with the right vertical axis, so she seems to be looking at us.

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Bright sunlight, streaming through green and dun foliage – what’s the point?

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Cropping reveals a Praying Mantis.

Version 2 With small subjects like this, I’ve learned less zoom with the camera gives me more leeway when I crop. `

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In January 2020, I came upon a gathering of Bald Eagles. As I approached, my goal was to capture images so that I might estimate how many were present.

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In the above photo, there are seven eagles of various ages together. The morning was misty gray, and to honor their space I remained at a distance, using the full 24X of my Panasonic LUMIX.

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Cropping out the partial eagles on the left and right, makes the scene far more dramatic. Also, we can confirm there are two juveniles huddled together directly behind the adult eagle.

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As the sun was setting the other day, light reflecting on the grasses was lovely.

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Straightening the photo helped get the shot in balance!

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Cropping the foreground and sky, lets the pink tinged grass in front lead our eye into the scene and focus on the lavender hued grass in the center and distance.

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Jello and I were on an early morning walk when I took this shot. The way she was standing, and the gorgeous sunlight glistening on the dunes knocked me out.

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The original photo needed major cropping to eliminate distractions.

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The finished version places Jello in the center and brings our focus away from the sky into the golden dunes.

Wishing everyone safe harbor as we navigate uncharted waters.

🐾

Thank you Patti for a chance to be a teacher again! Just love the “rule of thirds”!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #96: Cropping the Shot

Posted in Beagles, Birding, birds, bugs & critters, Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, nature, nature photography, ornithology, pacific northwest, photography | Tagged bald eagle, beagle, Birding, birds, bugs & critters, Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Long Beach Peninsula, nature, nature photography, ornithology, photography | 9 Comments

~ Wordless Wednesday ~ Blue Sky Birds ~

Posted on May 6, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

Male American Goldfinch – Spinus trustis

Spotted Towhee – Pipilo maculatus

Eurasian Collared-Dove – Streptopelia decaocto

~ Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #95: All Wet, or Almost! ~

Posted on May 5, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

Stormy weather

Rainclouds tumbling in from the Pacific Ocean announce with a rainbow that I’m about to get wet!

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Shorebirds sometimes appear to be oblivious to the wave action around them, however I’ve never witnessed a bird being overpowered by the surf. Sometimes I find carcasses washed up on the beach, most likely caused from diving into the waves for fish.

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Brown Pelicans on the hunt.

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A Mallard hen and her ducklings, bob for their lunch.

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For this post, I sat on a drifted log watching the tide tease it’s way toward me.

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When it surged, I was ready!

A special photo of my sister, niece and grandnephew as he experienced his first walk in the Pacific Ocean surf.

Wishing everyone safe harbor as we navigate uncharted waters.

Thank you to Tina and Lens-Artists for these wonderful challenges.

Lens-Artists Challenge #95 – ALL WET

Posted in birds, Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, nature, nature photography, ornithology, pacific northwest, pacific ocean, photography | Tagged birds, Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, Long Beach Peninsula, nature, nature photography, ornithology, pacific ocean, photography | 10 Comments

~ Lens-Artists Photo Challenge#94: At Home in Long Beach, WA ~

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Lindy Le Coq

When we first took tours through the available units at The Breakers, on first sight I knew this was the one I wanted. Furnishings, wall colors, flooring, window treatments and linens could all be upgraded and changed. The essential attraction for me was this view.

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We both enjoy the layout too; a spacious living/dining area,

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and a bedroom with another lovely big window.

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Though the view from the kitchen window isn’t great, these little cafe curtains create a cheerful “good morning” feel.

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The kitchen is large, well equipped, and easy to work in.

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This week we had a Dungeness Crab salad made with fresh that day crab from a local market, and Quail eggs from a nearby farm. Though time consuming to pick, this crab is worth the effort!

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If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you have seen many shots of the beautiful nature views from the picture window and attached deck. Sunset shots are among my favorites.

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