Notes To My Mother

In spring eagles gather at the Hood Canal in Washington.  What brings them there is a little fished called the Midshipman.  The female Midshipmen lay their eggs in the oyster beds and then leave for the male fish to tend to the eggs.  The problem for the fish is the oyster beds are in shallow water so that when the tide goes out the fish are exposed.  All sorts of birds come to feast on the fish, and among them are lots and lots of eagles. The behavior shown in the two images above is called grappling.  It is a cartwheeling spinning display with talons locked.  I had heard that this was courting behavior, however, according to the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Wildlife Institute, this is aggressive territorial behavior.  In every grappling image I have the eagle on the bottom looks distressed, while the one on top appears very much in control. Here is an image of an eagle with a freshly caught Midshipmen, being tailed by one of the ever p...

One afternoon late in the day I was driving through Sebastopol on highway 12. The sun was low on the horizon, well into the golden hour, when I glanced to my left. I couldn’t have seen it for more than a fraction of a second, but it was unmistakable and it has been etched in my memory ever since. White blossoms set back in the dark of a thicket, framed by the trees and illuminated by the setting sun. Only the blossoms were lit, everything else was dark and undiscernable. I hesitated, should I stop, run back and see if I could get a shot of it? I had my camera, but the traffic, and where to pull off?  In the time it took me to debate it I was well down the road and I let opportunity slip away.  I have returned on subsequent occasions always looking to see if that scene would reappear. I am sure it has, but never again in my presence. Every time I think of those illuminated blossoms I remind myself, “If you see it, stop and shoot it”, even if I am a mile down the road: ...