Black-necked Stilts…shorebirds that come inland to Eastern Washington state to nest on open ground near water early in the spring…McNary National Wildlife Refuge…
#birds #Twosday #BirdoftheDay #PNW
#birdphotography #WideOpenWings #BirdsoftheWorld #birdsinflight #photo
#photography #wideopenwings

Beautiful old Yoshino Cherry Tree in the Yakima Area Arboretum’s flowering cherry tree collection…
#thicktrunkTuesday #trees #blossoms
#bloomscrolling #WestCoastPhotography
#WashingtonisBeautiful #spring #photo
#photography #bloomsky

Planted these tulips in a half barrel fall of 2024…they came up…didn’t bloom in spring 2025…planted annuals over them…surprised me this spring…
#gardening #tulips #flowers #blossoms
#flowerphotography #bloomscrolling
#dailyflowers #flowerreport #gardensky #gardenphotography #inmygardentoday

Unless you see them up close or have a big camera lens you don’t realize just what their feathers look like, especially when it’s breeding season…

Black-billed Magpie…unfortunately the brush where I shot this photo and there were 2 Magpie nests was cut down and burned over the weekend…Yakima County
#MagpieMonday #BirdoftheDay #birds #tricolor #WestCoastPhotography #PNW
#Washingtonstate #BirdsoftheWorld
#birdlife #naturephotography #photo

Mallard Drake on a shallow cemetery pond that’s a bird magnet in the Terrace Heights area of Yakima, WA…
#mallardMonday #BirdoftheDay #birds #PNW #wingsopennotflying #waterfowl
#birdphotography #birdsintheirelement #WestCoastPhotography #nature #water

Mt. Adams makes a favorite background for a herd of cattle in a pasture on the Yakama Nation’s Reservation…
#mountainMonday #Washingtonstate #PNW #farming #rural #cattle #photo
#WestCoastPhotography #photography
#springscape #spring #pictureofday

Great Blue Heron hunting some back waters of the Tieton River east of Rimrock Lake, Yakima County, Washington…February 2026…
#BirdoftheDay #feathers #heron #birdphotography #closeup #birdlife
#BirdsoftheWorld #BirdsofBlueSky
#WestCoastPhotography #PNW
#BirdsSeenin2026

Happy Easter to those of the BlueSky community who celebrate it…and to all others, Happy First Full Week of April 2026…
#flowers #bloomscrolling #blossoms
#dailyflowers #bouquets #photography #flowersonSunday #flowerphotography #onlybeautifulthings

Cruising Yakima Valley backroads in 4wheel drive during an on and off snowfall 5 years ago when we happened on this Bald Eagle eating a fresh rabbit kill…
#weather #birds #birdlife #birdsofPrey
#birdphotography #BirdoftheDay #PNW
#BirdsoftheWorld #birdphotography
#grounded #raptors #WinterSurvivors

Yulan Magnolia tree in bloom, March 2026, Yakima Area Arboretum…weather was rough on large, light lemon scented flowers that bloom before leaves develop…
#bloomscrolling #trees #blossoms #PNW
#flowersofBlueSky #flowerphotography
#WestCoastPhotography #nature #naturephotography #photography

Would likely be late for the pelicans…

A bit early yet…that is an early June 2025 photo…I’ll post when it see them…as for produce think asparagus and cherries…

Their primary rookery location in eastern Washington is Badger Island on the Columbia River near the Tri-Cities…personally I’ve seen these small bachelor groups increasingly often on the Yakima River between Granger and Union Gap where I frequently bird watch…if you travel I-82 keep your eyes open…

A collection of cherry blossom photos taken at the Flowering Cherry Orchard, Yakima Area Arboretum, spring 2026…
#flowersonFriday #floralFriday #blossoms
#Bloomscrolling #flowerphotography
#WestCoastPhotography #dailyflowers
#bloomsky #flowersofBlueSky #PNW

Flock of bachelor American White Pelicans at the edge of the Yakima River near Toppenish, WA…dark feather patch on heads indicates most are juveniles…
#birds #BirdoftheDay #pelicans #birdlife
#riverbank #birdphotography #PNW
#BirdsoftheWorld #BirdsofBlueSky
#WestCoastPhotography #photography

Nothing like sunny yellow Daffodils to help us wake up from the dull gray days of winter…added them all over my gardens…not easy when gardening in a rock pile…
#yellowThursday #spring #dailyflowers
#gardening #bloomscrolling #flowers
#flowerphotography #PNWgardening
#flowerfeed #westCoastPhotography

I asked because these are Canada Geese…

Why Loons?

Canada Geese families at Hood Park along the Snake River, Burbank WA…adults move goslings to the safety of water within 24 hours of hatching and are very protective…groups like this are common…
#BirdoftheDay #adultswithchicks #geese
#BirdsoftheWorld #birdphotography #birds #birdlife #birdsofBlueSky

A lovely spring day for walking and shooting photos at the pond at Randall Park a busy city park in Yakima, WA…
#HumansofBlueSky #spring #parks
#WashingtonState #photo #PNW
#WestCoastPhotography

Things seen out birding Yakima Valley:
Apple orchard trellis support system & wind machine frost protection, hamburger on the hoof, death of fruit orchard, gravel pit pond being mined…
#rural #ruralscenes #trees, #farming #PNW #WestCoastPhotography #scapes
#photography #Washingtonstate #photo

Female Mallard dabbling duck preening in the pond waters at Ballard Park, Yakima, WA…a gland at the tail’s base produces waxes and oils that waterproof feathers…bill’s used to spread it…
#BirdoftheDay #preeners&scratchers #ducks #birds #BirdsoftheWorld #PNW
#birdlife #birdphotography #photography

“I’d love to have the whole place swimming in roses.” James Joyce, “Ulysses”
Rose Garden, Yakima Area Arboretum…
#roseWednesday #roses #blossoms
#flowers #bloomscrolling #dailyflowers
#flowerphotography #rosrsofBlueSky
#WestCoastPhotography #bloomsky

You beat Google’s AI on this…I went back to Toppenish National Wildlife Refuge today…found pods on the ground on the east side several feet from the tree…likely where the wind blew them…was so focused on photographing the tree trunk I obviously didn’t notice them…thanks for the observation lesson…

Miss those wonderful film “accidents”…

Chinese White Geese pair, Randall Park, Yakima,WA…domestic, noisy, grazing geese…can be aggressive, very alert…often considered good “watchdogs”…male has larger knob…
#birds #geese #Two #BirdoftheDay
#birdphotography #birdwatching
#TwosDay #naturephotography #PNW
#WestCoastPhotography #photography

Mt. Fuji Flowering Cherry at the Yakima Area Arboretum…said to have a short lifespan because it’s disease prone…that trunk says it is quite a survivor…
#thicktrunkTuesday #frees #blossoms
#spring #WestCoastPhotography #PNW
#naturephotography

It’s a natural geographical situation that occurs when heavy basalt rock layers shift over a weaker slippery sedimentary layer…started in 2017…movement was as much as a foot a week…now small rocks coming down occasionally…neither I-82 or nearby homes considered threatened…local road at base closed…

Things seen while birding Yakima Valley: Rattlesnake Ridge slide moving about an inch a week…Cherry orchard…common area parking lot landscaping…arboretum squirrel…
#WestCoastphotography #squirrels
#Washingtonisbeautiful #trees #PNW
#BlueSkyMonday #ruralscenes #rural
#naturephotography #photography