Happy New Year!

As I get ready to go out for dinner to celebrate Wendy & my 11th Anniversary, I leave you with one last hummingbird picture for the year...

A Male Anna Hummingbird...

We bought a second hummingbird feeder, and set the other one up closer to the house, hoping to get more attention and more birds. We did see a pair posturing a bit, and since then there's been a male Anna's hummingbird hanging around, and letting me get pretty close. The color on his face is just amazing when he looks at you in the right way...

He didn't like the mirror at first, and spent some time trying to scare himself away. Sorry for the blur, but you can see how he's puffing his neck out...

Here's a good shot of him feeding...

Here he is sitting on the huckleberry bush as the snow is falling:

And finally, just about as close as I could get, maybe 4 feet? (Using a 70-200+doubler, so 400mm focal length.)

 

I cut about 150 frames down to 19, click here for a gallery of the 19.

More wildlife

Here are some more wildlife pictures, since the deck is hopping with little Juncos and the hummingbird was visiting... And one or two shots from earlier this month of a Chickadee.

First off, a series of shots of the hummingbird. I didn't have the motor running, so the motion isn't quite as smooth as I would have liked, but it still gives you an idea of the movement the hummingbirds wings go through. Click the image to see the movie.

A couple still shots of the hummingbird...

The Chickadee I captured earlier:

An Oregon Junco in the snow with a sunflower seed

West Seattle Winters

Well, over here in the little part of Seattle called "West Seattle" the snow has fallen, and then the temperature dropped into the 20's. So we have a great deal of ice on the roadways making navigation a tricky business. There are some drivers that know what they are doing, and others that have no clue what to do.

Having dedicated snow tires is a definite plus. Traction exists as long as I can keep tires on stuff that isn't wet-topped sheet ice. If there's any roughness to it, and it isn't in the sun, then navigating it hasn't been to much of a problem yet. There are areas where you have to be REALLY gentle, and use the brakes rather than back-pressure to slow down, otherwise the tail tries to overtake the nose.

I've heard that there were supposed to be plows out, but I haven't seen signs of any plows yet. There was one lane of the downhill run on 35th that was sanded, but it didn't look like the uphill run had been sanded. Hopefully it will be better by the time we are heading uphill after Wendy is done with her bell choir this morning. If not, I'll be putting the chains on the car to get home. I think we should go to the Farmers Market first though. Since a bunch of the vendors have shown up, then we should do our best to make it worthwhile for them.

That's all for this morning, I'm just relaxing at a little coffee-house called "Hotwire" here on California Avenue north of the Alaska Junction. The West Seattle Blog had a coupon book, so I got a free coffee to enjoy while Wendy was busy with bells.

4pm Update - here are a few photos from our evening walk in the snow. These were all from the first few minutes, as it started to come down quite heavy, and I packed the camera into my coat to keep it dry.

Wendy & Sophia, ready for the walk:

A few neighbors porches:

A couple of snow-laden bushes:

Western Washington Winter Wildlife

The last few days it's been getting colder and colder around here. Recently the mercury has been dropping into the range of freezing overnight frequently. This weekend, the Northwest is getting it's first major winter storm of the year, with snow in the higher elevations. Even here in West Seattle there are rumors that we may see some snow tonight, and possibly tomorrow as well. With all the changes that go along with colder weather, the birds have been behaving a bit differently as well.

More and more of them have been visiting our deck feeders, and spending more time sitting around nearby. We've had Chickadees for quite a while, and I previously posted about the Red-Shafted Northern Flicker that's been paying us a few visits. Now, with the extra cold winter we are also getting a flock of Oregon Junco that have been hanging around. They like to eat off the ground more than the feeder, so they spend a lot of time in and around the pots, getting seeds that get dropped by the chickadees.

We have also been seeing a lot of a little tiny thing that likes to come and perch in the bamboo or on the feeder hanger, a Hummingbird. I can't tell if it's an Anna's Hummingbird or a Rufous Hummingbird, but it sure is a cute little thing. It comes and parks a few minutes making sure the coast is clear of other birds for a moment, then buzzes down to the feeder for a little nectar before going back to perch for a few minutes more. It's been a lot of fun watching it today while catching up on a little TV, getting a few series programs out of the way on a lazy Saturday.

But, enough with the chatter, here's a couple pictures of the little flyers at rest:

 

OK, looking at the picture again, it's looking more like an Anna's Hummingbird by the dark wings and the light eye bands... I'm going to be trying to get pictures of this little beauty buzzing about the feeder as well, so stay tuned for more.

Late Autumn Images

Here are a few more images from around the neighborhood this Autumn.

The clouds kissed by the setting sun.

 

A couple of last leaves on neighborhood trees.

Flowers in the pot outside our front door.

As always, click on the images to see high-res versions. Use the browser "Back" button to return to this page.

Waning Gibbous

These two shots are kind of for my dad. Both are very similar, but with the minor exception of being shot with two different lens combinations.

The first shot was taken with a 100-300mm Zoom with 2x extender. The extender caused the lens to not be able to accurately auto-focus, and does not have image stabilization capabilty. Manual focus was used to the best of my ability for the subject at hand... The second was taken with a 70-200 Zoom with 2x extender and image stabilization, where the extender is designed specifically for the lens and the autofocus worked flawlessly.

And now for the images... click to see full size (cropped so that they are actually viewable), and use the back button to return to this page.

In the still of the night

This one was taken last night as the air started to chill and the clouds evaporated. I almost had a chance to shoot an airplane flying across the face, but was still setting up when the plane was on approach. Missed it by 30 seconds of readiness... That'll be a shot I sit out for next month...

Here it is. Extraneous sky cropped off the image, if you view the full size piece, those are the actual pixels.

Crisp skies, light clouds...

Last night, the clouds were blowing through, and allowing the moon to show its face, so grabbed the big lens, its doubler, and the tripod, and ran outside for a couple quick snapshots. The first one through a bigger hole in the clouds than the second.


This one has a nice, ethereal feel to it. :)

Playing with your pets.

Just a few snapshots of our dear little friends of the furry kind. Hope you enjoy. :)

Sophia sleeping with a stuck lip. So cute.


Ensconced deep within her snugglesack.


Growling and tugging away with a mouth full of her stuffed hedgehog.


Imp pretending to be a piece of garden art, hoping the birds will just ignore her.


Imp dressed in the latest fall fashion... She really was not happy with me for a few minutes this time.

It's definitely Fall...

Last night the mercury dipped, and most of the Puget Sound region saw freezing temperatures over night, so this must really be Autumn... That and all the trees are making the change from green to yellow and red, and starting to drop leaves all over the place.

Here's a picture from the middle of last month, the harvest moon from September 16th:

Highpoint at Night

I recently carried a camera along on the evening dog-walk with Wendy and our friend Penny, as I've wanted to try and get a picture of the pond for quite some time. Next time I'll have to also carry a tripod, and I'd like to try an image-stabilization lense, and see if the results improve any...

This first picture is probably the best as far as image quality. Most of our condo (And one of the Parkside homes) reflecting in the Highpoint Pond.

An image of the Redwood at Highpoint condos, and the stream feeding into the pond.

My favorite composition, this has has a nice feeling, but is unfortunately a little blurry. One of the problems with trying to hold a camera steady for a 1/3 second exposure at night...

High Point Market Garden Street Flowers

Between the sidewalk and the fence, the gardeners have planted an amazing array of flowers that have been blooming since Spring. Here's a small sample of what's currently showing. Some Fresia, Calla Lilies, and Daisies.

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Wendy & I went with the BMW Club on a tour of Harold LeMay's auto collection on July 13th, 2008. We only attended the morning portion, about 300 or so cars on display.

Here's a small sample of some of the vehicles in the collection.

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More recent pictures...

Here's a couple more recent pictures.

Signs of spring:


A cat found hiding:

Put the Lime in the Coconut and drink it all up...

Wendy has been growing a Lime bush on the end table next to the couch for a while now. This spring (or over the winter) it sprouted a few flowers, and now has a few fruits slowly maturing. Here is a shot of the largest lime, which is a little over 1-1/2 inches long, and about an inch diameter around the middle.

A rainy spring morning...

There are a few little things poking their heads up now that Winter has finally passed into history...

These Hostas are about 2" tall now...


The native Bleeding Hearts arer in full bloom.



And the Lady Fern is unfurling a few fronds.

Friday Night Lights

This image was taken at the Seattle Waterfront, Pier 62/63, on the evening of February 22, 2008. The sun was setting through the clouds creating quite the colorful display.

Late Moon Rising

Last night, about 7 PM. The moon was full, and situated itself quite nicely behind this cool tree...

Another cold morning in Seattle

This morning is just another cold cold morning in Seattle. This last weekend I put my summer wheels back on, as it was getting warm enough that the snow tires were going to start wearing much to fast.

The sun is now coming up early enough that in order to get the first hint I'm going to have to get up even earlier. However, it makes it easier to catch the sun on things, like the Downtown Seattle Skyline. Click on the image for a better view.

Sunrise, Sunset, Repeat...

It's been a while since I wrote anything here... I've been working on finally filling up a notebook that I've been working on, off and on, for over twenty years. That, and I received a really nice Waterman roller ball for Christmas that made trying to fill that notebook even more enjoyable.

I've been shooting a lot of pictures over the last couple months, mostly of weather. It is that time of year after all. That time when you are on your way to work as the sun rises, and on your way home after it sets... now that sunrise is coming earlier and sunset a little later, photo ops change a little.

Here's a few items for your enjoyment... as usual, clicking on an images will take you to a larger version.

This first set was taken December 11th, 2007 at Green Lake near the Bath House Theatre. The colors were very nice, and the weatther was actually quite mild that morning.






Another morning, after several extremely cold days, I returned for similar colors, but over a lake covered in a thin layer of ice. I found it fairly magical, and tried to capture some of the essence of the feeling in a few pictures.






A week or so later we ended up with a little snow. As I headed north on my normal commute it got thicker and thicker, until the freeway came to a sudden stop a few miles south of my normal exit. I ended up on side roads having fun in deep powder and packed snow. Many vehicles on summer tires were having difficulty with the conditions, but the little 318 on studless snow tires was easy to drive.

These images start from West Seattle, looking out from our deck, and then continue back to Green Lake again.





Now, as the time shifts back towards longer days, I was able to capture a few sunset shots on my way home a few night ago.

A couple while in the car, and a stop at the top of Queen Anne hill.






Finally, this morning's commute yielded another great sunrise, this one from West Seattle above the golf course, looking out over the plume of steam from the cement plant south of Spokane Street.



All images copyright 2008 Stephen Hughes-Jelen. Please ask for permission to reproduce in any capacity.

Sunrise in December

Taken from the north side of Greenlake at about 7:35 am this morning.