Fidalgo Island Crossings

Salal (Gaultheria shallon) It has been cold around here, at least by our standards.  Overnight temperatures have been dropping into the twenties F.  That's below freezing for pretty much all of you in the rest of the world.  Arctic air masses sometimes find a pathway down the Fraser Valley in Canada.  The cold air will continue to spill through western Washington, down the Puget Sound Basin. It is not unusual for our winter temperatures to stay above freezing.  The downside of our warmer winters is that it can also be overcast, gray and drizzly.  At least the colder weather sometimes brings sunshine.  That's been our situation for the last few days, very cold with bright sunshine.  It's not all bad. Seashore  Bluegrass (Poa macrantha) One of my favorite things to do is get out in the winter cold, hike around the countryside and take pictures.  Yesterday, I headed over to West Beach in Deception Pass State Park .  This s...

I took this admittedly odd and marginal photo this morning.  I was hiking along the dike at Wiley Slough in the Skagit River delta .  This is a unit of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife .  Hanging in the tangle of brush along the edge of the dike, I spotted a guy's shredded Fruit-of-the-Looms and one sock.  I know there is a story here, but I can't figure out what it is.  Perhaps someone can help fill in the details.  Let me set the scene: The dike is part of a system that protects the low-lying farmlands of Fir Island, Washington .  The spur dike at Wiley Slough serves as a trail out into the wetlands of the Skagit River delta.  Many activities take place here include duck hunting, bird watching, hiking and dog training.  At different times, you may find the waters flowing either upstream or downstream.  This will depend on the river levels and the tides of Skagit Bay.   Lush botanical gardens ...

Skagit Bay on New Year's Day began with fog, but it quickly cleared to give us the most beautiful sunny day we have seen for many weeks.  This winter has been persistently overcast, dark and rainy, which would explain my long dry spell for Skywatch photos.   October 19, 2012 was my last Skywatch post and the beginning of one of the darkest winters on record here.  With only rare exceptions, there has literally been no sky to be watched.  2013 has finally broken that pattern.  The year began with three beautiful sunny days.  The photos here are of sunrise on January 2nd. Clear skies in winter also mean chilly temperatures.  Each morning began at or below the freezing mark.  Today, January 4th, we are back to overcast and gray skies, warmer temperatures and mists over the bay.  Meteorologists call it a "marine push."  We call it "ocean air."  Forecasts predict some clearing this afternoon, but I won't hold my breath. ...

Yesterday, New Year's Day, I participated in the First Day Hike at nearby Deception Pass State Park.  In Washington State, thirteen parks hosted First Day events to kick off the centennial year commemoration of our state park system.  Participants gathered at the kitchen in the Bowman Bay picnic grounds.  Our route would be the Bowman-Rosario Nature Trail out to Rosario Head. I arrived early to catch some images of the park in the morning light.  It has been a long, dark and wet winter so far.  In fact, December, 2012 was one of the darkest on record . New Years Day began with fog throughout the Puget Sound Basin.  By mid-morning it was lifting to reveal the most beautiful day we have experienced since the fall.  Overnight temperatures had dropped below freezing.  When I arrived, the lawns and picnic tables were covered in thick layers of frost.  Some lingering haze in the chilly air added a bit of moodiness to the morning light....

I found this photo while transferring files to a new computer.  It is one of the first photos (number 11 to be exact) I took with my first digital camera.  It was a Canon S2 IS with 5 megapixels and a zoom lens.  I thought I was fixed for life and it served me very well. This is Skagit Bay on December 22, 2008.  We would end up with about 14 inches of snow.  Western Washington roads between the Canadian and Oregon borders were pretty much shut down.  Mountain passes were closed and the ocean beaches had blizzard conditions.  Unlike other parts of the country, spring and summer weather is usually pretty dull here.  Fall and winter, on the other hand, are always interesting. Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year!

When people purchase wooded property to build a home, usually the first thing they do is cut down all the trees.  Not me.  I wanted to keep the trees.  I wanted big Douglas and Grand Fir trees in my garden.  Perhaps you can understand why from this photo taken yesterday during a brief, late-December sunbreak. They are a mixed blessing.  Gardening beneath them is much more difficult than I anticipated.  They are big, greedy resource hogs.  A far-reaching network of rootlets sucks up all available moisture and nutrients.  I always have needles tracked into the house, in my truck and in the gutters.  When the windstorms kick up, there is always a worry about them coming down.  Nevertheless, I have no regrets.  After 25 years, they are like very good friends with just a few bad habits.  I think they also allow wildlife to feel comfortable visiting the yard. Like any plant in the garden, the big trees need tending.  F...

High Tide occurred at 8:43 AM this morning.  With an astronomical tide of 11.9 feet (3.63 meters), the water level should have just reached the driftwood line.  We also had a storm pass through overnight.  At 1:39 AM, barometric pressure bottomed at 28.908 inches (978.94 mbar) giving us the lowest value for the year. It was quite windy here yesterday evening and overnight, but at the time of the high tide this morning, winds were calm.  The trailing edge of the storm produced northerly winds.  We are usually sheltered from north and west winds on this part of Fidalgo Island.  Nevertheless, the combination of low atmospheric pressure and wind added one to two feet to the tides throughout Puget Sound.  A flock of Canada Geese seem to be enjoying the neighbor's flooded lawn. This could be a look at our future under a regime of global climate change and rising seas. West Seattle also experienced an unusually high tide this morning: Next up,...