Hello,

OK. There aren't going to be any lighthouse photos included in this post.

We had some amazing wildlife encounters on this trip. We usually go on two whale watch cruises each visit and then watch the whales passively from the vacation home we rent and at Lime Kiln Lighthouse. We ended up going on several whale watch cruises (Salish Sea Charters)this year because the viewing from shore was not as good as in previous years.

Below are two of my best photos out of the hundreds that I took. Shooting with a digital camera, as long as the shutter delay isn't too bad, works great for shooting whales. This whale breach is the best one I've taken in 7 years. I would still like to get a shot with the entire body out of the water.





Besides watching the whales, we saw lots of deer, hummingbirds, bald eagles, harbor seals, river otter, turkey vultures, woodpeckers, rabbits and raccoons. We only saw a fox twice during this visit. If you have have seen my bird photos in the past, you know that birding is another hobby of mine. Here are a few of my favorite bird photos from this trip.

I actually took several hummingbird photos. To get this shot, I used a tripod and a fast lens. Since I've seen several hummingbirds during previous visits, I bought a plant and a hummingbird feeder and put them on the deck of the house we rented. The hummingbirds definitely preferred this plant to the sugar water.




On the only rainy day out of 10 days, these two woodpeckers were around the house for a few hours. I think the Pileated woodpecker on the left may be a fledgling. It was amazing to hear the sounds it was making and to see the other one feed it. Unfortunately I didn't have my tripod with me, and because it was cloudy, the photo of the one feeding the other is blurred because of the movement. I was afraid they would fly away if I got up to get my tripod. Although I used a telephoto lens, they were very close to me.






Tammy

More and more great pictures Tammy. Last Dec., when I was in Hawaii off the coast of Maui, I tried to get pictures of the humpback whales and spinner dolphins. It is so hard to get those fast pictures with a digital camera. I only caught one tail flip and never caught the spinner dolphins on digital.

Tammy -

What beautiful pictures of the whales!! I am green with envy (green seems to be my normal color when I read the forums). I have only ever been on one whale watch and then only saw tails, no faces or bodies. You have gotten some fantastic picture - I hope that you will post more of the whale pictures - I like the Orcas.

Eskilady

Lorie, I remember your photo of the whale tail and the light at Lahaina. I have only gotten a few humpback whale tail photos. It's a little easy to photograph the southern resident whales that frequent the west side of San Juan Island in the summer. You probably know this since you have seen them before. They swim in larger pods than transient orcas and the humpbacks I've watched in Hawaii. Plus, their behaviors can sometimes be predictable. Often, you will see more than one breach at a time. Once you see the first, you may get lucky if you aim the camera in that spot. The photo of that breach was the second one. There was another breach right after that one. I'm not sure if it was the same whale.

Eskilady, if you have your e-mail address posted, I can send you an HTML file with a few more whale photos. The two I posted above are the best though.

Thanks for your comments!

Tammy, your whale photos are magnificent! Your bird photos are not only beautiful, they're educational - now I know what I saw in Yosemite last week: a Pileated Woodpecker! They're really loud when the peck, aren't they?



Bruce

Putting that good 400mm to work, are you?! Lovely shots! I have been on three whale watches and never been blessed enough to see what you captured here. Fantastic hummingbird shot, too! Sounds like you had a great time!

Tammy,

Thanks for sharing your vacation with us. Always great to see lighthouses you don't see too often, and everyone likes wildlife. I really like the first whale breach pic and the one of the hummingbird. Great job.

FANTASTIC PICTURES TAMMY!
Ruthie

Tammy,

I especially love the picture of the two whales together. It must have been difficult to train them to jump in unison like that. And just how did you get the hummingbird to pose?

Bob