Blue Sky Summer Day

Recent Snaps

Mt Rainier today ... June 24, 2022
Looking from the waterfront trail across Elliott Bay
It's a little less than 60 miles from Seattle to Mt Rainier.

The waterfront path on a clear, blue-sky day.
June 24, 2022

Breakfast for the Great Blue Heron

I frequently see a Great Blue Heron in this area.

I stopped and watched for a few minutes.

Other birds and critters seem to leave them alone.

Breakfast captured!

If you enjoy critters, check out Saturday's Critters where bloggers share their posts. Thanks to Eileen for sharing and hosting.

Fuel on the way ...

The Global Pilot is a fuel barge.
For scale, note the humans on the front of the barge.

The Excellence has returned to port and is about to be
refueled. This ship is a part of the Alaska fishing fleet.
It returns here between fishing expeditions.

Excellence being refueled by Global Pilot
The high cost of fuel will be passed on to 
seafood consumers.

And here come the Police!

I believe the wave was for me, thank you!  😊

I snap a photo here when starting each walk
mostly to record the sky conditions.
Today is the first full blue sky day in a long while.

California Poppy

Don't miss the Space Needle
and the bench which is always tempting.

During today's walk ... very low tide. Lots of easy
finds for the gulls.

Looking east about half-way to my turn around spot.

Rare beach fun day for Seattle!
Downtown in the distance.

Hapag-Lloyd departing the Port with a small load of containers.
"West Seattle" in the distance.

Rainier was pretty yesterday too!  (June 23)

I like this pic because it nicely demonstrates SCALE.
Cruse ship vs. motor boat.

Had to climb a fence to snap this view of
Expedia Group campus.
Barry Diller, billionaire behind Expedia, wanted the 
new headquarters building to be shapped like a ship,
 being right across from the cruise ship terminal.
Read about Barry Diller on Wikipedia

Season's Greetings

The June solstice (summer solstice) in Seattle is at 2:13 am on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. In terms of daylight, this day is 7 hours, 34 minutes longer than the December solstice. In most locations north of the equator, the longest day of the year is around this date.

Recent Snaps

Summer rose in the Rose Garden along the walk.

Walking in the early sunlight is a delight.

Yes, I'm still walking about 2 miles almost every day.

Foss is one of the major tug operators in Seattle.

Kitsap Transit Fast Ferry -- Passengers only
Seattle to Bremerton

Fuel barge heading to fill up a cruise ship
docked at Pier 91

A large cruise ship ranging in length from 900 to 1,100 feet might hold 1 to 2 million gallons of fuel. Smaller vessels, like a 440-foot-long ferry, might carry around 130,000 gallons of fuel, while a gigantic ship measuring over 1,300 feet in length can tote over 4 million gallons.

Diesel fuel is currently averaging over $6 gallon in Seattle. You can do the math.

Let's hope the cruise lines locked in fuel purchases a year ago or so.

Sailboat adventures are available.

Mt Rainier on a really pretty morning.

Bunnies are all around. They were rarely seen during the
winter months.

Walking by this Mallard, I thought he was asleep.

A few seconds later.

It's rare for my hummers to share the feeder.
But, sometimes, they do.

This little Anna's hummingbird would take a drink
and then turn around to make sure I hadn't gotten
too close with the camera. 😊

A wild rose.

There are lots of wild rosebushes along the waterfront walk.

It's hard for me to just walk by this beauty.
Gotta stop and snap a picture.

Hard to say, but I think blue flowers are my favorite.

Buds on the left ... Bloom on the right.

Yellow rose of ... Washington?

Early walks ... long shadows.

Summer at last. Wishing all my friends and followers a fine summer. And, just in case you're in the Southern Hemisphere ... a fine winter. Thanks for stopping by. 

Walking the Neighborhood

 Recent Snaps

Looking out and looking back ...

My walk on May 25th was a walk in the neighborhood. 
This view is looking out over Puget Sound from the top of
the hill. The red dot (near center) marks the
waterfront where I usually walk daily about 2 miles.

The red dot in this picture (above left of center) shows
where the first photo in the post was taken, 
looking back from the waterfront trail.
(Snapped on May 26th)

[Please click on images to enjoy the larger view.]

This year is the 60th anniversary for the iconic
Space Needle, constructed for the 1962 World's Fair.
The top has been repainted in its original color ...
Galaxy Gold.

Magnificent rhododendron blooms in
the neighborhood.

More flowers along the neighborhood walk.

The neighborhood is known for its hills.
This is one of many stairways ... so many, there
is even a map showing all of them.

Map of the Public Stairs of Queen Anne Hill
Seattle, Washington

Hummers!

Hummer Update:  They are doing fine.
Seem to be enjoying the warmer weather.
After all-year-feeding, for over 2 years,
I have lots of Anna's hummingbirds to enjoy.
I have yet to see any other species of hummer at my feeders.
This image snapped on June 2nd.

Question for my birding friends:  If you love hummers, and have feeders for hummers, this question is for you.  When the little birds are feeding, naturally, they are facing the feeder. They seem to be overly concerned with looking up at the feeder, as if though, trying to determine if there is plenty of nectar left. Do you notice this behavior? I am curious if they have learned to remember locations where the feeder has plenty of nectar, so, perhaps as they move around the area, they will be more likely to come back, later, to that certain feeder.

Falcons!

I've been watching Seattle's Falcon Cam ... 4 Falcon chicks are almost ready to fledge ...

A screenshot of the Falcon Cam taken about 3AM a few days ago.
Seattle Falcon Cam
The chicks huddle up to sleep and mother rests on the ledge above.

The nest is on the 55th Floor of the 1201 Third Ave building.
A few photos are posted on the building's Twitter @1201Third
This year, the first egg hatched on May 5th
The parent Falcons have used this nest for several years.

Overview of the nest site.
Note cam at right edge.

The 4 Falcon chicks hatched on May 5 and 6. A website, operated by an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia, has much INTERESTING INFORMATION about falcons. According to their site, "Young peregrine falcons typically fledge between 40 and 44 days of age".  Based on that, and the appearance of these Seattle falcons, I'm expecting them to fledge within the next two weeks (June 7 - 21). 

Watching the mother Falcon feed is fascinating.
This image is by Ruth Taylor of the
Puget Sound Peregrine Project

Update

The young Falcons fledged on June 18th.

Piano!

I've been watching the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition ...

Love classical piano music?
The 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
is underway from Fort Worth, Texas
Watch free on YouTube

Update

The 16th Cliburn Competition has been completed.  Winners were announced at the Awards Ceremony, June 18th:

The gold medalist is Yunchan Lim.

The silver medalist is Anna Geniushene.

The bronze medalist is Dmytro Choni.

John's closing thought ...

After taking a break for almost 2 months, John's Island is back. To my blogging friends:  I'm looking forward to checking out your recent posts. My break helped me realize that blogging is truly my favorite form of social media. Thanks to all for stopping by.