An osprey on the bay

This week's photo outing in Hoquiam, Wash., took me to the tidal inlet bordering Dog Marsh, Hoquiam's unofficial dog park.

It was a blustery, mostly overcast day, but the sun came through the clouds on occasion, casting splashes of gold on the water and hills.

I found a spot in the driftwood on the bank that I could use as a bird blind, hoping some interesting water fowl would find their way to the inlet. I had only been there for a few minutes when an osprey made its way against the wind from the marsh and then hung in the breeze like a kite in front of me. It might as well have been posing.

It stayed there for a minute or two checking me out before continuing on its way. It was headed west along the bay; a couple of miles in that direction there is a utility pole the ospreys nest on top of, which I've photographed (and filmed) a few times. You can follow the link to see more.

Aside from the osprey, the bay's usual suspects were moving about: geese, cormorants, and of course sea gulls. But the tide was in, and the wind was kicking up waves in the inlet, so none of them sought shelter there.

To end the shoot, I focused on the waves splashing on the point of the inlet across from me.

Note on the introductory photo: I kept my 75-300mm zoom lens on the camera the whole day, so I didn't get a good context shot of the inlet. The first photo of this post was taken with a wide angle lens in April 2024. My bird blind was in the driftwood on the west side of the inlet, the right hand side in the photo.

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