Dogs Birds and Ships

The Last Great Race Is Underway
Check out the 2026 Iditarod
The race got underway in Willow, Alaska, last Sunday.
As of today, Saturday, March 14th, the lead musher has
made it more than half way to Nome, Alaska, in the
975 mile (1569 km)  race.

Birds

I took an extended blog break between late last September and February 26. 

Not blogging but still snapping photos and here are a few bird pics to share ...

I love the way the flash of color on one of my
Anna's Hummingbirds matched the color of the
leaves in a tree out front last fall.

Linking up with my favorite critter-photo sharing site,

Saturday's Critters

Canada Goose Conference
Spotted on a waterfront walk.

Watching the Eagles in the Big Bear Valley of California
encouraged me to end my blog break in order to share
this fascination. My previous 2 blog posts
February 25
and
March 5
have been documenting the Eagles as they are
incubating 2 eggs in their nest. Nest activity is being streamed
live 24/7 on YouTube. The screen capture above was
taken on March 11 at 6:16AM PDT. Momma is sound
asleep but ON DUTY!

Ships

Just to set the scene, here is my ship watching view
looking west over Elliott Bay and Puget Sound
to Bainbridge Island and the Olympic Mountains
in the distance.

Here are a bunch of ship pics taken during my blog break ...

National Geographic Sea Lion
departing Seattle on an 8-Day Expedition,
October, 2025

Evergreen Container Ship
on a sunny, fall afternoon.
This ship is southbound enroute to
Tacoma, Washington

The Lady L yacht in Elliott Bay in October, 2025
If you had the $, would you buy a yacht? 😊

Argosy tourist vessel.
These boats cruise around Elliott Bay,
entertaining tourists and locals alike.

OOCL Container Ship arrives in Seattle.
The Orient Overseas Container Line is one
of the world's largest shipping companies.
I am surprised to see the rust!
OOCL Company Profile

Washington State Ferry enroute Seattle to Bremerton
Alki Point (West Seattle) beyond.

An MSC Container Ship with very small load
departing Seattle ... Bainbridge Island in background.
For scale, note the sailboat at the yellow arrow.
(I know ... barely visible!)

An Evergreen Container Ship with a full load of containers.
Northbound to the Pacific Ocean.

Coast Guard Cutter Storis Icebreaker #21
in Elliott Bay early November, 2025

Matson Container ship southbound to Tacoma with a very
small load of containers.  Small load due to tariffs???

SAFESEA Container ship with exceptionally small load
departing Seattle mid-December, 2025

Unusual barge and tow vessel with a small number
of containers probably bound for Alaska or a
small port in Canada.

Looking over the Marina to see an MSC Container ship
with a good load of containers arriving in Seattle,
February 10, 2026

US Coast Guard Cutter 87360 
The "Blue Shark" - a Coastal Patrol Boat
February, 2026

AIRSHIP Good Year N3A
The Wingfoot Three
Floating by in September, 2025 

The Wingfoot Three heading north
above northwest Seattle

Another AIRSHIP
Boeing 777X
passing by -- probably headed to Boing Field, Seattle

Thanks for stopping by! Be well and take care!

John

Eagle Nest Watch

UPDATE:  March 11th  6:16AM  PDT
Sound asleep but ON DUTY 😊
Weather today:  Currently 28F, Sunny, high expected 64F

UPDATE: March 9th   7:21AM PDT
Sunrise at the nest!
Temperature at the time ... 27F
Forecast:  Sunny with a high around 54F

UPDATE:  March 8th   9:33AM PDT
Watching the nest this morning, I noticed Jackie fly away
from the nest while she had been on duty warming the eggs
all night long. She was away for just a few minutes and
returned at about 9:33. Clearly, we can see there are still
just 2 eggs in the nest. They appear to be in good condition.
Weather today for the nest:  Windy, mostly clear skies, high
temperature around 54F.

The remainder of this post was published on previous days.

********************************************

UPDATE:  March 7th  1:38AM PST

UPDATE info:  According to Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV) website chat, Shadow, the male, is on the nest tonight giving Jackie a break. These middle-of-the-night photos are made available thanks to IR (Infrared) illuminators which generate light invisible to the Eagles. Special sensors in the camera convert the IR to a black and white image, like the one above. FOBBV has published an excellent history of this nest available here. I am linking up with my favorite critter sharing site Saturdays Critters  The remainder of this post was originally published on March 5th.

********************************************

Big Bear Valley, California, Eagles Nest March 5th 6:35AM PST

Windy conditions at the nest this morning ...

Note the Wind Advisory in effect.

I am using the blog to document my nest watch. Are you as fascinated as I am being able to view the Eagle activity in real time? 

Link to Streaming Camera

After a long break I posted about the Eagles on Wednesday February 25th A big THANK YOU to all who left me kind comments on that post. Take another look at that post for several UPDATES between February 25 and March 4th. 

The Eagles involved here are named Jackie and Shadow. They have been using this nest for 9 years now ... since 2018.  

A little interesting background:  Jackie is believed to have hatched in Big Bear Valley in 2012.  The nest cam was installed by Friends of Big Bear Valley in 2015. The pair’s first successful chick together hatched in 2022 (named Spirit).  In 2025 two eaglets survived, named Sunny and Gizmo.

                                  Did you know …

Bald eagles often reuse the same nest year after year, adding sticks and material each season. Over time these nests can become very large and heavy, sometimes weighing hundreds of pounds.

Thank you for stopping by and check back for updates.

Big Bear Eagles

UPDATE:  March 4th  6:20AM PST
Sunrise at the Eagle's nest.

The following OUTLOOK is based on typical Eagle egg time to hatch of 35 days ... the "common" range is considered 34 to 40 

OUTLOOK as of March 4th

UPDATE: March 2nd  7:51AM PST
Breakfast is served.
Both parents, Jackie and Shadow, are at the nest.
46F current temperature in Big Bear Valley, CA
Day #6 for the first egg and
Day #3 for the second egg.
Online speculation: A 3rd egg may be coming.

UPDATE: March 1  10AM PST
This is day #5 for the first egg and
day #2 for the second.
I am encouraged to see the Eagles staying
on the eggs without, so far, taking long breaks away.
Looks like another nice day in Big Bear Valley.

UPDATE: March 1st
Sunrise in Big Bear Valley CA

UPDATE: Feb 28
We have TWO eggs!
Second egg laid on Feb 27th

UPDATE: Feb 28 - 7:58AM PST
Looks like a sunny morning around Big Bear Lake.
Day #4 for the new egg!

Linking up with Saturday's Critters

UPDATE: Feb 27 - 4:15PM PST
60F temperature at the nest when this screenshot taken.
Snow around the lake is beginning to melt.
Mostly sunny. A nice afternoon.
[Click on image for LARGER view]

UPDATE: Feb 27  -  6:24AM PST
Sunrise at the Eagle's nest!

UPDATE: Feb 26 - 4:36PM PST
I believe this is Jackie ... the mother bird.
Her partner is Shadow.
Both parents share incubation duties.
Eagle eggs typically take about 35 days to hatch.

We have a new egg in the Big Bear Valley Eagle's nest!

Link to streaming cam:  FriendsOfBigBearValley Eagles

More updates soon. Thanks for stopping by!

John

YouTube Link

Wishing You a Happy Fall

 

The 2025 Fall Equinox in Seattle will occur on Monday, September 22, 2025, at 11:19 AM PDT. This marks the first day of astronomical autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.

To all my blogging acquaintances:  I’m taking a social media break at the moment.  Just wanted to be the first to wish all of you a happy Fall moments after it is officially underway. 😊

Thank you for stopping by. Comments will return with the next post. In the meantime, take care and be well.

John

PS To those of you in the Southern Hemisphere ... Happy Spring!

Late Summer

Eye on the Water 

Actually, I am not on the waterfront but this is when
a camera with good optical zoom comes in handy.
I like the critter on the sail.

Just curious!
🠞[Click on image to see a larger image.]🠜
This is a barge leaving Seattle on the way to Alaska.
The trip takes about one week.
Notice rail cars on the bottom level,
trucks and trailers on the top.
Can you imagine the cost of shipping?
Notice the green containers with letters AML
The barge is operated by Alaska Marine Lines.
See this LINK if you're curious how this all works
or perhaps want to ship a vehicle.

This little vessel is known as a Pilot boat.
Most large ships that enter and leave Port of Seattle have 
a Pilot aboard. The Pilot is familiar with local 
waters and helps the Captain of the ship
with safe navigation. The Pilot boat delivers the Pilot to
ships approaching Seattle or takes them off once they
have left Puget Sound.

I'm going to title this Fill-er-UP
This is a refueling barge on the way to refuel
one of the cruise ships docked at Pier 91.
Do you have any idea how many gallons of 
fuel a cruise ship uses on, let's say a voyage from
Seattle to Ketchikan, Alaska?
Web research says about 65,000 to 70,000
gallons of marine diesel and at today's US 
National Average price, about $3.71/gallon,
that would add up to about $259,700.
And that's just a couple of days of cruising. 😂

Here is the Lauren Foss tug.
Puget Sound - Foss Maritime Company
Foss is probably the biggest marine services company
in Seattle. One thing I love about them is the way
they name all their vessels after members of
the Foss family.

Loved seeing this RED SAIL sailboat.
An unusual spotting.
A marina full of sailboats is in my view.
In the next image below you can see a
portion of the Marina full of sailboats. A
group of enthusiasts like to get out on their
boats on Thursday evenings.

Talking about sailboats ... This vessel with super tall masts
is currently docked at the Marina. I snapped this picture on
a somewhat hazy/smoky morning but you get a good
view of the boat. The tallest mast is 205 feet!  I discovered
that by looking up the vessel online and, for Seattle, it
has quite the interesting name ... SEAHAWK. By
the way, it's interesting to compare the size of the 
Seahawk to the more ordinary sailboats
docked beyond it.

Stamps

12 Years of Critters - Chinese Zodiac

The Chinese zodiac, also known as Shengxiao 
(“born resembling”), is a repeating cycle of 12 years,
 with each year represented by a different animal.

What you're looking at is called a First Day Cover.
As you may know, John collects stamps.
The USPS issues stamps to celebrate all
sorts of special occasions. On the first day
a stamp is issued, postal collectors will be
at a Post Office to buy the new stamp and
place it on a special envelope. The special 
envelopes are often created by artists such as
the ones you see here. 

Note:  As a hobby, I've been collecting stamps longer than blogging. To me, one of the most interesting parts of stamp collecting is finding these First Day Covers aka FDCs.  The FDCs give you the stamp, the date it was first issued, and usually, some art work related to the reason for issuing the stamp.

Over time I've added all 12 special stamps
and First Day Covers celebrating the Chinese
Zodiac to my collection,  The one above
is the Year of the Tiger ... stamp issued 1998,
in Seattle, Washington.

In 1999 the postal rate for First Class increased to
33 cents. This FDC was postmarked in Los Angeles
on January 5, 1999. It was the beginning of the 
Year of the Hare (some call it Rabbit).

The first day of issue for the Year of the Dragon
stamp was January 6, 2000. How do you like
the artwork?

Number 6 in the Chinese Zodiac is the Year
of the Snake. The stamp rate was 34 cents.
This one is postmarked Oakland, California, on
January 20, 2001.
By the way, 2025 is a Year of the Snake! 

The Year of the Horse was celebrated with a 
new stamp on February 11, 2002 and this one
was postmarked New York, NY.

In 2003, the postal rate increased again, this time
up to 37 cents. The USPS celebrated the Year of the
Ram (some call it Goat) on January 15, 2003.

Year of the Monkey, postmarked January 13, 2004,
in San Francisco, California.

The 10th year of celebration in the Chinese Zodiac
is called the Year of the Rooster. To see the stamp
that celebrated the Rooster we have to go back to 
1992 when the Rooster stamp was issued on
December 30th in San Francisco, California.

The Year of the Dog, issued February 5, 1994,
in Pomona, California.

Last Chinese Zodiac animal is the Boar (or, as some
call it, Pig). The Boar stamp was issued December 30,
1994 in Sacramento, California.

I'm linking up with Saturday's Critters.
If you enjoyed the Chinese Zodiac critters,
you will love Saturday's Critters.
Check it out!

The Latest from my Niece!

Emma shares my fascination with stamps.
She recently sent me some stamps she
bought with her own money. I told her 
not to do that as I don't want her
spending her $ on me! 😊
By the way, her card has an embossed image
of a postal delivery van ... very nice, Emma!

Yes, this is a sheet of stamps issued by the 
USPS in celebration of their 250th Anniversary
of Delivering.  Like Emma said,
there's a lot to look for here.
There are 20 FOREVER stamps on the sheet.

My Newest Old Book

Roscoe Misselhorn's Pencil Sketches of
American Steam Trains
Published 1976 by Riverside Press
(49 years ago.)

This is a really LARGE book.
$1 bill added for SCALE.

Roscoe was a railfan and a pencil sketch artist.

Plate #6 of 33

Plate #17 of 33
How do you like his art?

Back Cover
A downside to this book is ... where will it fit 
in the library?

Skies

What do you think about these STRANGE clouds?
It was early morning and most of the sky
was covered with overcast.
These clouds reminded me of a chevron pattern
like you might see on clothing or a rug.
But what caused it in the sky?
Let me know if you have any ideas.

Looking out over Puget Sound on colorful
clouds just after sunset.

Fantastic photography!
This is an award winner in Dark Sky photography as
seen in the Dark Sky website. Well worth your time
to check out the photos. No, none of them are
mine 😊 but I love them and had to share with you.

I found this cloud to be fascinating.
At first, I thought I was seeing rain fall out of the cloud.
But now, I'm thinking it's just the wind blowing the
formation of the cloud into new directions.
If you're into clouds, what are your thoughts?

I'll close my "Clouds" section with this image captured
just after sunrise a few days ago. I had been sitting on my
deck watching the dawn with a cup of coffee. 😊
Suddenly I noticed this cloud formation and almost
thought I could see a FACE in it.  Let me know if
you can see it!

Closing thoughts …

#1

When your Middle School Sixth Grade
has a Web Day you know the
Internet is now a part of our lives. 😊

#2

Thanks for stopping by John's Island. I appreciate your comments. Feel free to copy anything and share it anywhere. Just so you know, I'm not standing by with a bunch of lawyers ready to sue you for copying my images! 😊 Lastly, I've been slowing down on publishing new posts recently. I'm getting pretty close to a thousand posts since starting back in 2010. Lately I've found some social media to be discouraging, so I've been cutting back on it. Take care out there and be well!

John

★★ Post #978 since December 28, 2010 ★★<