Category Archives: beach

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Foggy beach walk

Some days we have fog that burns of to beautiful sun. This is a Marrowstone Island beach walk that was foggy nearly until I got back.

The tide was very far out and the great blue herons were loving it.

The ships were being cautious. They were invisible and calling for most of the walk.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: foggy.

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Lions

The sea lions that I wrote about look static in my still pictures from Marrowstone, here. I am zoomed all the way in with my Canon PowerShot SX40HS, and in bright sunlight hand held, I can’t really see much through the camera. I try to get it in focus and hold it still.

But yesterday I found a rock and tried to take a film, a movie! The sea lions are not static at all. The tide was going out, so the little island off the southern part of Marrowstone was rising from the waters. The sea lions are getting on the island as it appears. And perhaps not agreeing about position. It is amazing to watch how quickly the island changes.

Here is a sea lion film! I propped my camera on a rock, but got early wiggles turning the camera on and off, too. But there is a lot going on between the motion of the water, the sea lions, the sail boat and birds. Not to mention the small plane. I do not think the sea lions liked it.

I think I need to take a tripod and really set up. Next project!

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: film.

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Beach finds

I picked this agate up. See how it looks like a Gummi Bear, a different texture than the other rocks? The clear ones light up when the sun is polarized. It is harder to find them when it is not sunny.

This is not an agate, but some agates are this color. I try not to bring occupied houses home.

This is an agate too, not clear, but lovely color and striping.

Here is another clear one:

I am not the only creature searching the beach.

These were taken on Marrowstone Island and on the beach below Chetzemoka Park in Port Townsend.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: find.

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Time ripples

I found this calcedony nodule on North Beach about a week ago. The lines in it are layers laid down over years and years, as the mineral crystals lined a space and precipitated. The different colors in the stripes mean different impurities. This is one of the biggest pieces that I’ve found on the beaches here.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: ripple marks.

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Rock surfaces

Happy Earth Day!

I walked North Beach twice this week and Marrowstone Island once so far this week. This is from North Beach yesterday. This rock makes me a little anxious because I think it will come down. It’s well above my head and is probably 5 feet by 5 feet. Bits of the cliffs fall and I do not want to be under them.

There is another, a little smaller, a bit further along. Those are not small trees on the top of the cliffs, so the scale becomes clearer.

Another of the huge rocks has been on the beach for a while. Look who is living on the surface, while the tides roll in and out. An amazing surface, right?

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: surface.

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Salish Sea

Today in the Salish Sea, it is 7.9 to 9.1 degrees C. I do not want to swim in it, though I have a neighbor that swims in it year round.

Yesterday the sun came out, so I hurry to Chetzemoka Park and down to the beach. I walked towards Point Hudson. The brandt are there. They need time on shore and we are supposed to leave them alone, but a tourist walked out the point. I promptly sat down with my camera in the sand, because the brandt left the point and came over to me. It’s the closest I’ve been to them.

Brandt make a noise that’s half chuckle and half purr. It’s a really nice sound. They were dabbling to feed. They are geese. More here. These are migrating to Alaska nesting grounds, but they feed along the shoreline. They are smaller than Canada geese and do not show up in our parks.

Eventually I got up and moved back down the beach slowly. They did not spook. I think there was quite a bit of Brandt community flirting and arguing going on.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: cold.