Fir Island, WA

For spring break, F and I headed north to my favorite spot: the Pacific Northwest. During our brief but relaxing stay, I hooked up with my blogging buddy Dave from WildFidalgo who introduced me to beautiful Fir Island in the southwestern corner of Skagit County. Fir Island is an important habitat for wildlife. The Canadian snow geese make it their resting place during the winter months when they can be seen by the thousands as they feed in the many agricultural fields. The wildlife preserve is a wonderful place to do birdwatching, which is what we did. We parked in one of the lots and strolled along the dikes. Solitude surrounded us except for the many chirping birds, quacking ducks, and, crying eagles.  It was still early in the season, so the trees were bare, but that allowed us better views of the birds and waterways. Here's a quick tour of the surroundings, (sorry you bird lovers, my lens wasn't quite able to capture those little critters!)

Starting out along one of the dikes...

That's an eagle's nest in the tree on the left side of the photo...

The waterways opening up to the bay...

The Skagit Bay estuary with the snowcapped Olympic Peninsula off in the distance...

A tree tunnel forming along one of the old dikes...

Heading back to the parking lot...

Calm waters...

Pretty spring flowers lined the trail...

After we left the wildlife preserve behind, we stopped to photograph Fir Conway Lutheran Church...

Daffodils left over from the Easter Sunday celebration...

Blue skies!

Check out Dave's blog where you can view gorgeous shots of the Canadian snow geese. And if you ever find yourself roaming around the Skagit Valley, do check out wonderful Fir Island. You won't be disappointed!

Final Scenes of Autumn

Autumn is winding down here in San Ramon. Before it's gone for the year, and winter moves in, come take a look at some colorful autumnal scenes that I shot at nearby AT&T Business Park...

Click HERE to see last year's shots.

Seacliff State Beach & Capitola

On Friday I had to take Z to a jazz festival in Santa Cruz. While he was performing with his bandmates, I snuck away and visited Seacliff State Beach and Capitola, both just moments away from Santa Cruz.

The main feature at Seacliff, aside from its lovely beach of course, is the long pier which protrudes into Monterey Bay. At the far end of the pier is the scuttled Palo Alto, a World War I era supply ship. The ship was purchased by an amusement company and then sank off the pier; oddly enough an arcade, dining room, dance hall and even a swimming pool were built on the ship. The company went out of business years ago, and since then, the ship has unfortunately been in a rather deteriorating state.

Then I headed over to colorful Capitola, which is just a few miles north of the state beach. It was packed with young people on spring break...out enjoying the warm sunshine, beautiful beach, quaint stores, and eclectic restaurants...






























Next time you find yourself in Santa Cruz, be sure to drive the short distance south and visit these charming spots.