On the Riverbend

In last week's post, The Family, I shared photos of a family of Canada geese with two goslings on the river in Hoquiam, Wash. The photos came from my first photography outing in many months.

This week I took the camera about a hundred yards farther around the riverbend and encountered a gaggle of adult geese hanging out near the Puget Sound & Pacific Railroad swing bridge at the mouth of the river, where it empties into the Grays Harbor bay.

You can see an overview of this area of the Hoquiam River in Morning Lights in Hoquiam.

As an aspiring wildlife photographer, Canada geese are not all that exciting to capture. They're just a bit too commonplace, in my mind. But they offer good practice, since they aren't too wild (they move around but they don't scatter as soon as they see a human). And I've come to appreciate them as beautiful through photographing them: their colors are subtle, but when I look at them in a photograph I find their markings beautiful, especially those in the wings.

The geese on this afternoon outing were standing atop the submerged dock pilings preening, something I haven't seen too often. There were a few squabbles, which you can see in a couple of the action shots, but for the most part they all was peaceful.

It seems I'm getting out for photography about once a week as the weather turns nice. Maybe next week I'll be able to share a more exotic creature....stay tuned!