Katrina's Travels

Continuing eastward on my way through North Cascades National Park....

There are several hydroelectric dams on the river along the highway. This one is Gorge Dam.






The Gorge Overlook Trail is a short walk that offers nice views of the dam and lake.




There were a few birds along the trail, including this Varied Thrush.




( More photos )

More later....

In my last post I mentioned going to Fir Island with my cousin in absolutely horrible weather. I really did want to look for the Gyrfalcon that people were seeing there, so I went back the next morning before heading east back towards Spokane.




When I arrived, there were a bunch of birders with scopes looking at a big falcon on a big fallen tree way out in the water. Initially they told me it was the Gyrfalcon. Further examination, including the bird turning its head to give a better view, showed that it was actually a Peregrine Falcon - a nice bird to see, but not a rarity.




This is a wider view of the scenery there - a combination of open water and marshy fields.




There were plenty of Bald Eagles, a bunch of them in one tree.



( More photos )

Eventually I gave up on seeing the Gyrfalcon and got going, heading back north a bit before turning east.

My uncle asked if I'd go out and show him some birds before I left, so we went over to Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. We took one of my younger cousins with us. As usual with my relatives, we left the house much later than planned. The weather was not at all good. We got wet. We borrowed binoculars for both my uncle and cousin but I don't think either of them was particularly successful in using them. It also turned out that my uncle really isn't capable of walking very far. Still, I think he was pleased with the outing. (I think my cousin was bored stiff though.)

This does not look like good weather for a walk at the wildlife refuge, does it?




The birds we saw weren't anything new or different from what I'd seen over the past several days. I enjoyed seeing them again though. My uncle wanted to see an eagle. I checked the spots where I'd seen them on my earlier visit but there were none to see. As we were almost back to the parking area, I spotted a big bird at the top of a tall evergreen tree.




It was indeed an immature Bald Eagle.




( More birds )


We went back to the house where my cousin S. wanted to take me out for breakfast (it was lunchtime by then) before I left. I really wanted to get going, but I also liked the idea of spending a little more time with him and I did need something to eat, so I said I'd go but it had to be a relatively quick meal. We went back to almost the same place I'd just come from, eating at the little restaurant across from the entrance to Nisqually. I had halibut fish and chips. They were very good. My cousin, who generally drives like a maniac, drove very slow on the way home. He admitted it was because he wanted to spend more time with me. I thought that was sweet, but annoying. I really, really need to get out to Washington to spend time with my family on a more regular basis. I was planning on going back next month, but that's not happening now thanks to the coronavirus.

After lunch I tossed the rest of my stuff into my car and got going pretty quickly and set off to visit another cousin who lives in Bellingham, a couple of hours north of Seattle. Have I mentioned that I don't like Interstate highways in general and specifically really don't like driving around Seattle? The freeways around Seattle were the first freeways I ever drove on alone, when I was 16 or 17 and working for my uncle's photography studio during the summer, but Seattle was a different place back then. Now it is just a big traffic jam. I hate traffic jams.

The weather cleared up for a while as I was driving, and there was some blue sky for a short time. I took this photo of the blue sky over Tacoma while I was stuck in non-moving traffic.



( A few more photos from the road )

By the time I got to Bellingham it was dark. I had the address for my cousin's apartment building but I couldn't find the building. I drove around in circles trying to spot something to identify it by and finally gave up and drove around some more until I found a parking spot where I could leave my car for a while. I called and left a message for my cousin then started walking in what I thought was the right direction. I was in the right general area when she called back so she came out and met me and we went back to my car and moved it to a closer spot where it could stay until 9 AM, by which point I needed to move it again. We talked, ate supper, and talked some more before eventually going to bed.

November 15th was a day I didn't have any specific plans for, other than that I wanted to go to a park of some sort and look for birds if the weather wasn't too bad. The weather started out too bad, with pouring rain, but it improved and I decided to hope that it would continue improving. After thinking over the various options on my list of places to potentially go, I decided on Point-No-Point, which is a county park at the northeastern corner of the Kitsap Peninsula.

On the way there I took a slightly wrong turn and ended up in Port Gamble, which was just fine with me. It is a rather touristy old mill town. There were a lot of birds on the water there and interesting stuff to photograph. I went into the store there and got a really good coconut steamer from the coffee shop inside. There's a museum there but it isn't open in November so I didn't get to find out what's in it.




There were a number of historic buildings. This one is the post office.




This is the view of Hood Canal. (It is not really a canal. It is the long, relatively thin piece of Puget Sound that separates the Kitsap Peninsula from the Olympic Peninsula.







A Herring Gull




There were a lot of birds on the water and I didn't have my spotting scope with me because carrying it with me on planes is a pain and this wasn't meant to be a birding trip. It was annoying to not be able to get decent views of the birds though. I ended up taking photos that I could enlarge later to try to identify what I saw. The birds in this photo are Red-breasted Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, and Horned Grebes, all birds that I see at home at least occasionally.

After I finished stretching my legs at the Yakima Greenway I got back in the car and left on my way across the mountains and to my uncle's house in Lacey. I took a scenic route but I didn't have time to make any long stops.

This is the view I had coming out of Yakima on US-12.




The first stop I made was at a pull-off on the side of the road just after US-12 turns south, crosses the Naches River, and becomes the White Pass Scenic Byway. There wasn't anything there other than gorgeous scenery and some birds, but those were both worth spending some time on.


( Two panoramic views behind a cut due to size )





I believe the Tieton River is hiding on the other side of the colorful trees in this photo.




( More scenery )

There were birds, mainly Steller's Jays and Varied Thrushes, both of which I always enjoy seeing since they're west coast species that I don't see at home. I followed the birds from one tree to another trying to get good looks. Eventually I went back to my car, got into it, and then the birds came to me. They were eating something on the ground and came close enough that I could get some really nice photos.







( More bird photos )

After the ferry crossing, I took a scenic route across the Colville Reservation. This area was more forested than the areas I went through earlier in the day. Eventually I turned south again on SR-21 which goes along the Sanpoil River. There wasn't anywhere to stop so most of the photos I got were from the road.







( More scenery and some turkeys )

The mammals were the stars at Turnbull NWR, but the birds were interesting too. I didn't see very many different species of birds, but most of the ones I saw were different from what I see at home.

This is a Pygmy Nuthatch. There were a number of them in the pine trees along the entrance road. They're hard to photograph because they don't sit still.



( Another view of a nuthatch )


A Hairy Woodpecker - this is one that I do see at home.




There are three Northern Flickers in this tree. They are the western, Red-shafted variety rather than the Yellow-shafted variety we have at home.




( Closer views of flickers )


This Northern Shrike was pretty much the last bird I saw there. I occasionally see one of these shrikes at home in the winter, but they're more a bird of northern places and only rarely show up where I live. I saw at least three of them while I was in Washington.



( More shrike photos )

Other birds that I saw included Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees, a Marsh Wren, Mallards, American Wigeon, and Red-tailed Hawks. I'm probably forgetting a few others.