Recent Favorites

UPDATE - October 3, 2026

Not ready to publish a full new post. After many years blogging, I'm slowing down. This post, Recent Favorites, was originally published on September 8, 2026. I'm adding a few new things via this update, October 3, 2026.

The world's largest single mast sailing yacht, originally known as Mirabella V, now known as M5, was in my view the last week of September. A photo seemed necessary for the blog.  😊

I'll include an especially nice sunset on October 2nd in honor of Fall and the new month of October.

I'm happy summer has gone with its heat and smoky skies. Fall is definitely here with cooler days and trees turning to autumn colors. I'll close this update with a photo of downtown taken early in the morning from Kerry Park, a popular Seattle overlook.

Now on to the post as published on September 8th. Thank you to all who have left me kind comments on the post. No need for new comments unless you just want to. Happy Fall!

Hummer

These images are all of one of my hummers, a male Anna's Hummingbird. Most photos of hummingbirds are taken when they are at a feeder. I felt lucky to catch this little bird perching in a tree right next to my deck. Of course, he was keeping an eye on the feeder on the deck. Hummers are very territorial and will try to chase other hummers away from a feeder they consider to be thier own. More interesting info from the Cornell Lab Bird Academy:  “At first glance the male Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna) is solidly green. Then with a twist of his head, he reveals a flash of shiny red brilliance. This color show is made possible by the way the feather microstructure reflects light differently as the viewing angle changes. During his spectacular aerial courtship displays, he advertises this red badge to female spectators by orienting toward the sun. This colorful element of surprise is key to his mating success.”

Linking to Saturday's Critters

Skies

Looking across Puget Sound,
to the west, I see Bainbridge Island.
It's unusual to see clouds forming at ground level.
Weather conditions must be just perfect ... and they
were on September 2nd.

The clouds to the west seemed unusual on 
September 5th. I was so tempted to take this image
and add some arrows to point out the face of
a dog. Do you see it in the right side of the image?

I miss a lot of sunsets around here in the summer.
Well, with Daylight time they are so late ... around 8 - 9PM.
By that time I'm done with snapping pictures for the day. 😊
Going forward, I hope to see more, like this one on Sept. 5th.

Flowers

On a recent sunny afternoon, I visited a nearby community garden. It's one of those gardens where community members have a small patch of land where they can grow plants of their choice. I was impressed with the work my neighbors have done and snapped several pictures. Thought these flowers worth sharing. Nature creates beauty so easily.

On the water ...

September 5th
Want to sail around Elliott Bay?
Check out Seattle's Tall Ship Sailing Tours

State Ferry.
Probably Seattle - Bremerton
Alki Beach/West Seattle in background.

Evergreen Container Ship departing, July 25th.
Evergreen Line Shipping

ONE Container Ship departing, July 30th
One Network Express

MSC Bianca Silvia arriving, August 22nd
MSC Shipping

Oceania Riviera arriving, July 20th
Oceania Cruises

Seattle today ...

Tuesday morning, September 8, 2026
from Kerry Park viewpoint.
On the right ... Mt Rainier, about 50 miles away.

Reflections ...

Blog wise, the first half of this year was focused on the Bald Eagle nest near Big Bear Lake, California. I was totally fascinated with Eagle parents Jackie and Shadow and the new eaglets they brought into the world, Luna and Sandy. The story did not end perfectly, as Jackie passed away due to illness. The Ojai Raptor Center tried to revive her, but was not able to do so. As far as we know, Luna and Sandy have successfully departed their birth area and are now in the process of establishing new home territories. More good news ... Papa Shadow may have a new partner.  Bald Eagle Kaydee, a banded Bald Eagle, about 4 years old has been visiting the nest area for a couple of weeks now, and appears to be interested in Shadow, and he, it seems, has welcomed her.

Shadow and Kaydee, September 3rd
Thanks to Friends of Big Bear Valley.org FOBBV

Thank you for stopping by John’s Island.

Lunar Eclipse Tonight

 

A very short post today in hopes you, dear fellow bloggers, will not miss the partial lunar eclipse tonight, August 27, 2026.

In preparations, I was up early this morning and happened to capture the Virgin Brilliant Lady entering Puget Sound as the full moon, the Sturgeon Moon, was in the sky above. To find out when the eclipse may be viewable in your area, do a simple Google search.

Thanks for stopping by John’s Island … see you again soon.

Update - 8:10PM PDT

The eclipse is being streamed on YouTube.

Moon Mountains and More

Moon slipping away ...

October 5, 2025

[Click on images for larger view]

Re the photos above:  On October 5, 2025, I spotted the Harvest Moon nearing the western horizon. The sky was perfectly clear and the moon was large and bright. I grabbed the camera to capture a few shots as the moon slipped behind Two Brothers, a part of the Olympic Mountain Range.

A couple of days later ...

On October 7th, the sunset provided a colorful
 sky and a chance to see the spot on Two Brothers
 where the moon set in the photos above.

Speaking of the Moon … the NASA Artemis II mission, with 4 astronauts, will soon embark on a 10-day journey traveling in NASA’s new spacecraft Orion out and around the moon. PBS Horizons featured this on tonight’s (March 21) broadcast. More info here.    

To My Blogging Friends - -

I want to say a big thank you to all of you who have left me kind comments on my recent posts after returning from an extended blog break from mid-September, last year, to February, 2026.

Dogs

In my last post I encouraged you to check out the 2026 Iditarod in Alaska. Jessie Holmes, Bib #7, crossed the finish line, in Nome, on March 17 at 9:32PM, to win the race.  Travis Beals, Bib #4, was second place winner, March 18 at 1:58AM.  Jeff Deeter, Bib #8, was third place winner, March 18 at 5:10AM.  Paige Drobny, Bib #10, first woman musher to cross the finish line, was fourth place winner, March 18 at 5:38AM ... 8 hours and 6 minutes after Jessie Holmes. If you would like to see lots of great photos of this year's race, check out the Official Race Photographer's websites ...

Siri Raitto Photography

AND

Dave Poyzer Photography

Birds

In all of my posts, since returning from blog break, I've been keeping an eye on Jackie and Shadow, the Bald Eagles, and their nest in the Big Bear Valley of California. The Friends of Big Bear Valley (FOBBV) are providing a live stream on YouTube so we can watch as the parents incubate 2 eggs in the nest. Checking on the nest yesterday afternoon, March 20, 2026, here was the scene ...

Checking on the nest about 3:00PM PDT
The 2 eggs look to be in good condition but
no parents are on the nest. Scrolling back on
the stream shows Jackie flying away a few
minutes earlier ... taking a break.

A little after 3:01PM Jackie returned 

By about 3:02 she is back on DUTY!

Critter lovers be sure to check out Saturday's Critters

Closing thought ...

Thanks for stopping by and take care!

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 ★★<