Older Entries

12/09/25 - Dungeness Dike

We went to the Dungeness Dike after the big storm. It had rained all night, and the wild winds had been blowing. The river was high, and the land was flooded. The new dike held.

It's almost winter, so flowers were few and the trees were bare. The ponds were full of ducks, and we could hear frogs croaking somewhere. We had a great view of an osprey, a distant view of an eagle, a silhouette of a jay, a great blue heron and a rather odd mystery bird a bit too far to photograph properly.

Flooded



An eagle


An osprey



A few flowers left

That mystery bird - It might have golden feet. It might not.

A great blue heron



Ducks and more ducks






A hard to see hawk

That's not a bird as best we can tell.

A jay

Keywords: ducks, dungeness, eagle, flowers, winter

05/30/25 - Marine Drive Eagles and Eaglets

We took a short walk along Marine Drive. The trees were full of bald eagles, and there were two eaglets in a nest. It's always worth a look this time of year.

An eagle

The view

Another eagle

Cedar waxwing?

More eagles

Yet another

Another view

Looking west

A butterfly

An eagles nest

with two eaglets

Mom?

Poppies

Keywords: eagle, marine drive

06/23/24 - Hama Hama Oyster Saloon

We celebrated a friend's birthday at the Hama Hama Oyster Saloon in, of all places, Hama Hama. It was a pleasant enough drive south on 101 past Quilcene and then along the coast. We didn't see a sign for the Saloon, so we zoomed past the restaurant on our first try, but we quickly realized that there is really only one Hama Hama oyster restaurant down by the flats. Before our friends arrived we walked a bit north along the flats where the oysters grow to the Hama Hama River.

The restaurant is an outdoors space. We placed our order at the kiosk and then settled in at our table. This was right by the Hood Canal and sheltered by two large wooden boards forming something of a pup tent. We drank our champagne - we brought our own and paid the corkage fee - and after a bit our oysters arrived, raw and shucked with a mignonette and roasted nicely. We also had some really good bread and butter. An eagle settled in to watch. It was great catching up with our friends, and everything was delicious as it often is when dining al fresco.


The oyster flats down by the Hood Canal

Seen around

The restaurant

The mountains just visible

Still snow on the peaks

Heading along the flats

The snow melts and feeds the river.

The Hama Hama River

A foreground tree

The river is bigger than it looks.

The restaurant

A visitor

An oyster gabion

Keywords: eagle, oysters

12/14/23 - Bird Watching at Dungeness DIke

We did some bird watching at Dungeness Dike. We saw a few eagles, hawks, a heron and, of course, lots of ducks.

The Dungeness River

The river awash

Gray sky

Two eagles

Two eagles up close

The scene

The marshland

Autumn color

A heron

Ducks

An eagle in flight

A hawk in a tree

An eagle in a tree

Probably a hawk

That hawk again

An eagle in a tree

That eagle again

More ducks

Gray skies bring out the fading color.

Keywords: ducks, dungeness, eagle

11/05/23 - Dungeness Dike

Dungeness Dike is another great place to watch the changing seasons. The new configuration hasn't been accessible for a full year yet, so we're still getting a sense of it. Meanwhile, we've been seeing a good number of fishermen out for cut-throat trout, something new it seems. They must be in season.

The Dungeness River and a winter sky

The marshy fields

More fields and mountains

Another look

And another

Some fall color

Wetlands and gray skies

An eagle in a tree

Last bit of color

More of the new wetlands

Another view south

The marsh seen with an iPhone

Bright iPhone colors

The iPhone is better at capturing fall colors here.

Another iPhone scene

And another with lots of cloud drama

More color and drama

Keywords: dungeness, eagle, autumn

11/03/23 - Ultra Zoom - iPhone vs Sony

We have a new iPhone Pro Max, so we also have a new camera. This model of iPhone has a much more powerful zoom than most smartphone cameras, so we took a couple of pictures with it to compare against those taken by our usual Sony DSC-HX99. They're both pretty good cameras, but at an extreme zoom, 25X, the Sony seems to deliver a better picture. That's not surprising. The Sony has a much better set of lenses and much more space to play with. The iPhone only has a 5X optical zoom, but it has a higher resolution sensor. They both have ridiculous image processing software, but what doesn't nowadays?

The Strait of San Juan de Fuca as a filler shot

iPhone - Port Angeles blowing off steam

Sony - Port Angeles blowing off steam

iPhone - zoomed in

Sony - zoomed in

iPhone - an eagle seen from the Dungeness Dike

Sony - an eagle seen from the Dungeness Dike

iPhone - zoomed in eagle

Sony - zoomed in Eagle

Keywords: dungeness, eagle, port angeles, software

04/29/23 - Dungeness Dike and Rising Waters

We were back at the Dungeness Dike to check out the rising river. The whole point of replacing the old dike with this new one was to let the river flood freely. Well, it's working. The waters were much higher and the flood waters deeper. The fields were full of mustard. Hawks and eagles were about. We'll see how high the waters get when the spring melt starts in earnest.

A new branch of the Dungeness River

Old Towne Road and the Olympic Mountains

Higher waters

Marshlands

Higher water here as well

Some of the new dike

A future forest

Open fields

Mustard and mountains

More mustard

And even more mustard

Following the path of the old dike

Further along

Through the fields

Mustard flowers and forest

A spring scene

Maple flowers

Some kind of hawk

Yes, a red tailed hawk

More along the trail of the old dike

More forest

Welcoming forest

Mount Baker in the far distance

Keywords: dungeness, eagle, spring

07/21/22 - Dungeness Dike

There are big changes along the Dungeness River down by Towne Road. The southern part of the old dike is gone, and a new road is coming through. We're taking advantage of what's left of the dike, and, now that it is summer, it's lush and overgrown. We spotted two eagles or perhaps the same eagle twice. It was a short walk, but a pretty one.

A sunflower at Chi's Farm on Towne Road near Old Olympic

Another sunflower

And another

The summer dike

Lush and overgrown

An eagle sighting

Some marshland

A bit of the river

More lush summer of foliage

The dike again

Another glimpse of the Dungeness River

An eagle above

Zoomed in a bit

Keywords: dungeness, eagle, summer

01/09/22 - Marine Drive - Eagles and Swans

We took a walk along Marine Drive in Sequim. The air was clear. We could see Mount Baker, a giant meringue, in the distance, and people were out in kayaks in the waters below the bluffs. There were two eagles in what we call the "eagle tree", an adult and a juvenile. There were also swans in a field of East Anderson Road. They come every winter, and the field was full of them.

A juvenile bald eagle

An adult

Mount Baker

Kayakers near Dungeness Spit

The swans

A swan closeup

Another closeup

Keywords: birds, eagle, mount baker, sequim, winter, marine drive

01/06/20 - Dungeness Dike and Points North

We saw a number of eagles along our walk on the Dungeness Dike. It's a good relaxing hike on a nice soft, flat surface. Then we crossed the Dungeness River heading west on Anderson Road and took a short walk north towards the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. It was a broad flat marshy field with a trail that seemed to lead all the way to the strait, but we didn't get that far. We'll have to come back and explore some more.

Seen from the Dungeness Dike

An eagle on the water, blurred by a confused autofocus

A clearer eagle

A Dungeness River side spur

Fields heading north to the strait

Fields and sky

The trail

Keywords: dungeness, eagle

03/12/19 - Various March Birds

This hasn't been a good year for hiking, but it has been a good year for bird watching. The eagles are easy to spot from the Dungeness Dike, and we saw a hummingbird in a bush right near the trail. There was a woodpecker on the forested part of the walk to Dungeness Spit, and a big hawk in a tree as we headed west from the Morse Creek parking lot.

A red tail hawk

Just some trees, unless you look closely

They're full of eagles.

A hummingbird at rest

A hummingbird in motion

The sea and sky off Dungeness Spit

A woodpecker at work on the trail

Keywords: birds, dungeness, dungeness spit, eagle, morse creek

03/14/18 - Dungeness Spit at Low Tide

Every two weeks or so, there are some great tides at the Dungeness Spit. We recommend planning any long walks on the spit when the low tide gets down to three feet, but lately, the daytime low tide has been getting down below one foot. That means lots of broad beach, and there is lots of sand for easy walking. The light house is only five miles out. What are you waiting for?

For our Dungeness Spit tide tables . Good, low, daylight tides are marked in green.


Wide, sandy beach

An eagle on the driftwood

The orange cap marks "my spot"

Good, easy walking

A view from above

Keywords: dungeness spit, eagle, tides

02/27/16 - Dungeness Dike Eagles

It’s eagle season, and one of the best places for spotting them is along the Dungeness Dike off of Towne Road in Sequim. It’s not a long walk, but it pays to keep your eyes on the sky and tree tops. The trail roughly follows the Dungeness River and borders a broad open pasture. Sometimes we see eagles flying high. Sometimes we see them perched on tree tops or flying above the river. There is a cluster of trees towards the south end of the fields that they particularly like. On our last visit, there were at least a dozen eagles perched there.

How many eagles can you see in this picture? Click for a better image.

There’s one.

How many here?

Two eagles

This one is easy.

Another eagle

Did we mention that they like tree tops?

There are also some pretty views of the river and its side channels.

Another view

Keywords: dungeness, eagle

   Older Entries