Tag: Wildlife Photography

Raccoons

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Huckleberry, our neighbor Jack’s dog, is a big, friendly, goofy fella that loves frisbee. He drops the frisbee at your feet and barks until you throw it. Lori and I hear Huck’s loud, husky bark several times a day as he and Jack are out front playing. Yesterday, however, we heard Huck make an odd, almost torturous sound we’d never heard before. Turns out, the local family of raccoons were out wandering and took exception to Huck’s running over to greet them. Apparently, they attacked Huck en mass, thus Huck’s painful wail.

By the time Lori and I got outside Jack had chased the raccoons up a cedar in our front yard. There they were, four or five of them, two-thirds of the way up the 75 foot tree just hanging out.

It was tough getting good shots, these raccoons would look away whenever they noticed my camera aimed at them. Apparently they’re a camera-shy bunch. I did manage to get a few good shots and thought I’d share.

To see more of my wildlife photos visit https://jmacdphoto.com/wildlife/(opens in a new tab)

Start at my home page, https://jmacdphoto.com/ , to visit all of my photography web site.

#Photography #Wildlife Photography # Wildlife #Nature #Raccoons
#Canon #Sigma

Port Ludlow

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Port Ludlow, “A Village in the Woods by the Bay”, was a logging and sawmill community in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Port Ludlow became the site of a resort, marina  and several planned communities in the late 20th century. Home to around 3,000 people, including Lori and me, it is also home to a vast array of wildlife including deer, raccoon, possum, bobcat, bear and cougar,  all of which have visited our yard. Deer frequently walk onto our back deck to get apples higher up in our trees. And birds too numerous to mention. Our house is surrounded by tall trees, cedar, fir, pine and aspen. We literally live in the woods. Lori and I moved here from the Palm Springs area almost three years ago and haven’t looked back since. 

Our village is situated in the northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula on Port Ludlow Bay, an inlet off Puget Sound, and just south of Port Townsend (see my Port Townsend blog https://jmacdphoto.com/port-townsend-waterfront/). “Downtown“ is a gas station with a mini mart post office, medical clinic, a couple restaurants and several small businesses. “Uptown” (across the street and uphill) has a church and several businesses. The marina area has, yes, the Marina but also the Resort, Yacht Club, Beach Club and condos, many of which are vacation rentals.  There are also incredible views of the Olympic Mountains from the marina. Port Ludlow is on the edge of the Olympic Rain Shadow, a phenomenon that spares us from much of the rain northwest Washington is known for. This means we can enjoy the 30+ miles of hiking trails in the village without getting as wet.

Here are a few photos of our Village in the Woods by the Bay.

  • The Yacht Club
  • Yacht races on the lagoon
  • The Olympic Mountains

The trails

  • One of the many trails
  • The Port Ludlow Waterfall

A sample of the wildlife (haven’t gotten pictures of cougar, bear and bobcat. Yet.)

  • In our front yard

To learn more about Port Ludlow visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Ludlow,_Washington

My friend Bryan Diehl also has great photos and incredible videos of Port Ludlow and the surrounding area, look him up on Youtube.

To see photos of other places visit https://jmacdphoto.com/gallery-places/

Start at my home page,  https://jmacdphoto.com/ , to visit all of my web site.

Tongue Point Bald Eagle

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Yesterday, Lori and I took the van out to the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula in search of camping areas we’d want to spend time at. The weather was rainy and cold, but we did find a couple areas that we will visit in better weather. Because of the weather, my camera stayed in the van. Until our final stop. We walked out to Tongue Point to see the view and found, sitting atop the remnants of a tree on an island about 200 yards away, a bald eagle. I ran back to the van, collected my camera and managed to get a couple good shots from different angles.

To see more of my wildlife photos visit https://jmacdphoto.com/wildlife/(opens in a new tab)

Start at my home page, https://jmacdphoto.com/ , to visit all of my photography web site.

The Bear

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Every year my buddies Paul and Al and I go camping in the eastern Sierras. We go to the same campground every year, Big Bend, just outside the east entrance to Yosemite. For four or five days Paul and Al fish, I take photographs and some guitar playing gets done. A few years back we were sitting around our campsite when we noticed a commotion, other campers crowded around near the creek. Not wanting to be left out, we jumped up and ran over to the group, me grabbing my camera just in case. We were rewarded with a bear crossing to the other side of the creek on some fallen logs. While  Paul, Al and the other campers stood and watched, I sat down at the edge of the creek and started shooting. The bear put on quite a show; sitting up watching us campers, scratching in places that shall remain unnamed and pacing back and forth, as well as using a tree to scratch its back. I continued to shoot as the bear moved around until I heard someone from behind (Paul or Al, not sure which) say quietly: “John”. Looking back I noticed everyone was slowly backing away. Looking forward I noticed that the bear was on the logs crossing the creek, much closer than I realized and moving in our direction. While picking myself up off the ground, I looked back to ensure there were others that I could out run should the bear decide to charge (you don’t have to be the fastest, just not the slowest). Fortunately, the bear only wanted some fish in a pool on our side of the creek. Neither the bear nor any campers were harmed in the production of these photos. Wildlife photography.

To see more of my wildlife photos visit https://jmacdphoto.com/wildlife/(opens in a new tab)