July, 2020
Gosh, another beautiful afternoon … blue sky, warm weather, but not too hot, and just the slightest breeze to make everything perfect. After my visit to Seabeck this morning, I had lunch back at the trailer and then went exploring again. And, again, I didn’t get very far. Just a couple of miles past the village of Seabeck, the road is built on top of a causeway … the causeway separates two bodies of saltwater that used to be just one big bay of saltwater. (see photo right) The inner bay is still large. There is a bridge at one end of the causeway so saltwater continues to enter and leave the inner bay as the tide rises and falls.
Here’s the road that’s built on the causeway (photo above). The short bridge is in the foreground (the light colored pavement). The causeway is the straight stretch of road past the bridge. The inner saltwater bay is on the right; the outer tideflats are on the left.
Photo above … the tideflats outside the causeway. The saltwater stream in the foreground empties and fills the inner bay.
That saltwater stream in the foreground above empties/fills from Hood Canal as the tide rises and falls. That’s Hood Canal that you see in the distance above. Hood Canal is more than two miles wide at this point, from where I’m standing straight across to those dark green trees. Hood Canal is obviously not a man-made canal, but a natural waterway that was named Hood Canal.
Photo above … the inner bay and the saltwater stream that flows under the road to empty and fill the inner bay with salt water as the tide rises and falls.
The tide was low! It had just started to change and come back in when I arrived here, so there was a very tiny bit of water current running into the inner saltwater bay from Hood Canal. Notice how tiny the vehicles are on the left in the photo above, compared to the expanse of this huge inner bay.
What a beautiful place. I wandered and roamed, watching for birds and raccoon, fish and turtles and foxes or anything else that might show their heads (or tails). One often sees those sorts of folks on an incoming tide since the incoming tide often brings fish … to eat!
There were millions of flowers along the causeway, along the road … yellow, white, lavender, blackberries just about ripe, and pretty pink flowers too.
I was standing on the inner bay side of the road when I took the snapshot (below) of the big white truck parked on the shoulder of the causeway, with Hood Canal and a few of the Olympic Mountains in the background. In winter months, those mountains will be smothered in snow and ice; they will be gorgeous. Even today, they’re impressive.
That tide was really a LONG way out. In the photo below, the high tide mark is right at the bottom of the photo, the dry grey-colored stones and gravel. The water of Hood Canal is almost 300 yards away. The ground and the seaweed hold enough moisture in between high tide and low tide, and then high tide again when the water returns, to hide lots of edible things for lots of critters.
So I was surprised that I didn’t see any critters taking advantage of the low tide and the sumptuous feast available. But it was a wonderful day. I visited a bit with other people who stopped on the causeway to have a walk and take a look. And yes, there were the incessant seagulls. 🙂 And yes there were a goodly number of Great Blue Herons but they faded right into those grey rocks such that photos of them didn’t really work. I was happy to walk that causeway, and pause, and look, and listen, and wonder.
In the photo above, you can see the very deep, rich green of the seaweed that’s exposed when the tide is low/out. You can also see, in the photo above, like I could, that white thing out there in the middle of that very deep green seaweed … the white spot right in the middle?
See it?
What the heck is that?
Well … I zoomed in with my camera … here’s the surprise!
Not only did I see the “white thing”, but I also found a Bald Eagle!
The Eagle was mucking about for a morsel of food … and evidently found some.
As I panned out (or UN-zoomed) my camera, I found a second surprise … a second Bald Eagle. In the photo below, the Eagle on the right is the one I first noticed near the white thing. The Eagle on the left in the photo below appeared to be just standing there, not moving much.
How terrific is that?!
I watched them for a good long while. They were a long way away from me and hard to see even with the camera zoom. The one Eagle simply kept pulling up stuff and swallowing something every once in a while. The other one simply stood guard, I guess.
The photo below shows the causeway on the right and the looooong expanse of tideflats. You can just see the big white truck parked beside the roadway, on the causeway.
Here’s another photo below showing the nice homes that are right at water’s edge when the tide is high, which would be several hours from now. You can clearly see the big white truck now.
Ah, but, keep looking at the photo above. As I stood there looking at the homes and the beach, I spotted yet another surprise. Can you see it in the photo above? Nope, it’s not on the beach this time. Look at my truck, then look at the red truck behind my truck, then there’s a large bush behind the red truck, then there’s a phone pole … follow the phone pole up and veer just a hair to the left. See the white spot in the tree?
Yep … a third Bald Eagle.
I walked closer, slowly. I even got right under that tree but then, of course, I couldn’t see the bird at all, so I walked back to where I could get a photo but be as close as possible. Mostly, I didn’t worry about a photo, I just watched that bird and was very much in awe.
When I finally did find the right spot to stand for the proper perspective and then zoomed in with my camera … here’s what I saw … below …
Two Bald Eagles! In addition to the two that were on the beach. These two in the tree were likely a mated pair. The larger female and the smaller male, as usual.
They stayed there for quite some time, just watching, turning their heads, the breeze ruffling a feather every now and then. My gosh, four Bald Eagles in one spot, very close to each other. I know there are places in the world where many more than that number of them gather, but this was the most I had seen. I was amazed and so darned happy.
I walked along the causeway some more, looked around some more (keeping my eagle-eye on those two Eagles in the tree), and finally decided it was time to head back to camp for supper. I was walking back to my truck, with my back to the Eagles in the tree, when I heard an Eagle call/cry behind me … a loud call.
I turned quickly and looked up at that tree …
She was there, calling. He had flown.
But he hadn’t flown far. He was circling above her. Was he headed to the beach for a wee bite of a tasty morsel for himself? Or was he checking the area for anything else edible, or suspicious?
To hear the call/chirp/sound that a Bald Eagle makes, turn your sound on, then go to this website and click on the blue box with the white arrow on the left side of that webpage. Let the sound file run all the way to the end. https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/145265541#_ga=2.166973758.1851466631.1599701509-1201573796.1598491185
What a special day. 🙂
Oh man, I haven’t seen eagles in so many years. Thank you Ann!!
You are welcome!
Hi Ann. The flow of water from the bay to the right is called Big Beef Creek and UW has a field office and a facility used for marine studies. On the Hood Canal side is very good crabbing. The piece of land you see far away extending from right to left is called the Tonandos Peninsula. Beyond it is Dabob Bay which is over 800 ft. deep. There is a Navy Station there used to measure sounds emitted from Nuclear Subs to assure they can run silently. Slightly north and on the east side is the Trident Submarine Facility. Keep a wide berth as you pass or you will be visited.
Just some local knowledgr for what it’s worth.
Oh, that’s excellent information, Bob. Thank you. I’ve lived here in the Pacific NW for so long, but never knew most of that. The info about measuring sounds emitted from subs is especially interesting.
Many, many years ago I cruised through here on my 1978 Campion “Redhead”, perfectly innocently, not knowing anything about the Trident facility. I was up on the flybridge, lazily dawdling along. I saw an inflatable over by the beach, and in less than a nano-second it was screaming over the water right at me, with a machine gun on the bow, and a man strapped to a post and aiming that machine gun right at me. A loud speaker said “STOP!” I pulled my throttle back and STOPPED! And I stood up on the flybridge and spread my arms with hands open. I was told to turn the boat 90 degrees to port (to the left) and get the heck out of there. I did as I was told. I learned that day what the dotted lines and the text on the marine chart meant … and I learned they were serious. Yes, pay attention or, like you say, “you will be visited”.
What wonderful photos of those eagles! And what a beautiful new place you are sharing with us. Thank you!
You are welcome. 🙂
How do you get such perfect weather? And eagles galore? And gorgeous flowers? what a great blog, Ann, thank you!
I wish I could take credit for the perfect weather, but I can’t. And the eagles and flowers, well, they were just there too, all by their own doing. But I do try to stop and look and listen, David … so thank you for that. 🙂
I don’t know that I’ve ever heard an eagle making sound. I always assumed their call would be loud and deep and raucous and ominous. But it isn’t. I found many sound files online of eagle calls and they are always high pitched and more like chirps than anything else. You just never know about people do you? 🙂
Ha! No, you never know, do you Ruth. With almost all Bald Eagle pairs, the female is larger and has a deeper sound to her call than the male. But still, even her call is more like a chirp, as you say, or a series of high pitched calls. Life is sure interesting. 🙂
You lucky dog, to see those eagles! I hope today’s air quality isn’t a problem for them. Due to the fires, we are in dim, yellowish light and told to stay inside. Your pictures were a treat.
I am a lucky dog! 🙂 With the horrendous amount of wildfire smoke here in Washington State (and Oregon and British Columbia), I think about all mammals and birds and reptiles and butterflies … I too hope they are ok. And I’m glad my pictures of a bright blue sun-shiney sky could help a bit. The sky will return, I promise.
Spectacular. The beach. The eagles. I wish I could smell it.
I wish I could share the smell with you Rob. There must be a way to create smells digitally, yes? Let’s invent it and make a million. 🙂
Up here in BC we’re not getting any where near the smoke that you’re getting down in Washington, but still we can taste it in the air. We have been watching the airnow.gov website. The entire State of Washington is red or even dark purple, some places even darker. And the Willamette Valley in northern Oregon (with Portland) is off the charts bad air, they don’t even give it a number it’s so bad. California has clear areas, air that’s in the green, much of it is just fine, and yet the media talks only about California. How odd. Ann your photos must be so refreshing for people to look at right now. Wish the smell of fresh air could be shared over the internet!
Jim
Hi Jim … Rob (the reader above) and I are going to invent/discover how to create smells with an electronic digital device and make a billion dollars. Join us. In fact, maybe everyone reading this can join us and we can all become fabulously rich and famous. Rich would be nice. I’m not so sure about famous. I like my quiet little life. 🙂
They say the air quality will improve by tomorrow (Monday) and be even better yet by Tuesday. I hope your air clears up too. It will be so good to see the sky again!