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I caught this lovely Thrush close on the trail with nothing but frozen river in the background.
Goldbar Park. Edmonton, Alberta.
I added a male in the first comment box.
We are having a great year for Crossbills in the Edmonton area. We haven't seen these numbers for many years. This is most likely related to the big conifer cone production this season.
Cone seeds are the food of choice for both White-winged and Red Crossbills. The exceptional cone produuction this year might be related to the stress of the drought years we have been experiencing here and the reaction of the conifers to this. Glad to see these beautiful birds in big numbers, but we really need a very wet spring or we won't be seeing many shorebirds and waders around here this season.
Goldbar Park. Edmonton, Alberta.
Member of the Flickr Bird Brigade
Activists for birds and wildlife
The pink flowers of Rubus spectabilis Pursh, also known as salmonberry, were a common sight on my Spring hike in Wallace Falls State Park, Washington.
A twiggy setting, I photographed this one in the same tree where I have been seeing Townsend's Solitaires.
They are migratory, but there are always a few that spend the winter.
Goldbar park, Edmonton, Alberta.
This is the third post in a row of birds from the same berry Tree. A mini-series I suppose.
American Robins are migratory, but there are always a few that stay for the winter here.
Goldbar Park. Edmonton, Alberta.
Beaver near the water treatment plant in Goldbar park where the water is very warm and several types of ducks spend the winter
A Rubus ursinus Cham.& Schltdl. also known as a trailing backberry, Pacific blackberry, California blackberry, or dewberry blooms in the woods along the Wallace River in Walace Falls State Park in Washington.
A Amelanchier utahensis Koehne bush commonly called the Utah serviceberry or pale serviceberry blooms along a trail in Wallace State Park in Washington.
Rose Family Rosaceae
Waking up to that 5 AM alarm can be annoying yet exciting at the same time. In this case, it was exciting.
Headed east on US Highway 2, the crackle of the scanner is heard just west of Gold Bar, indicating there is some activity headed our way. As we drove around a sweeping curve, the signal for the west-end of the Gold Bar siding shows high green on the main, validating our suspicion there was movement around. Ben and I pulled off at a familiar spot to many rail photographers on this line, the bridge over the Skykomish River, nicknamed "Big Eddy."
We initially expected this eastbound to be the morning Z train from South Seattle, but as it soared across the trestle it revealed itself to be an empty oil train. None to less, the chase was on to the east side of the pass.
Amtrak's eastbound 'Empire Builder', train number 8, soars over the swollen banks of the Skykomish River on bridge 1753.4 just east of Gold Bar, Washington.
The west side of Stevens Pass endured constant rain for over 24 hours leading up to the day of our visit. The rainstorm culminated by dumping exceptionally heavy showers around mid-day. The tributary creeks and rivers feeding the Skykomish River were raging by the afternoon, dumping the churning white water of their mountain runoff into the typically docile waterway at the center of the Skykomish Valley. After squeezing every lumen of the days usable light into our camera sensors up on Stevens Pass, our group was fixing to photograph one more train before heading for home. A quick glance at Eagle Falls near Baring revealed a maelstrom of white water, surging through the gap in the rocks, leaving no place for even a foolhardy photographer to stand. With even blue hour passing rapidly, and Amtrak #8 advancing steadily towards us, we pushed towards Gold Bar, and the riverside park near bridge 1753.4. Upon arrival, we discovered that the wide silt beach where we had started our day eleven hours before was now under two feet of swirling water. Each successive wave was advancing further into the bushes that typically are well above the touch of the river. A frantic search for alternative angles, on solid ground resulted in the composition above. Partway through my first test exposure, to dial in my camera settings, the trackside trees high above on the western side began to catch the headlights of the approaching train. Fifty five seconds of shutter open time passed slowly, as I did my best to shield my lens from the downpour with my hat.
Barely visible below the truss span, and closest deck girder span are piers remaining from the bridge of the Wallace Falls Timber Company's logging railroad. WFT used a steel span across the center of the river with wooden pile trestle approaches. This bridge allowed WFT to add spurs on the south side of the river to their already extensive network of trackage feeding logs to the mills. Use of a steel bridge for a logging railroad was atypical, but some of the reasoning behind this has been brought to light thanks to local rail historian David Sprau. In his words: "...I always had been told that Wallace Falls Timber had been somewhat hoodwinked into putting a steel and concrete bridge over the river there, instead of a traditional wood or Howe truss, because 'somebody' had assured them that GN would be glad to buy it, and the alignment, from them anytime they wished to sell, because GN was 'very close' to going ahead with a line change at that location."
An article he shared from the September 13, 1929 edition of the Monroe Monitor about recent Great Northern Rwy surveyors working the area adds further substance to this: "The present bridge across the Skykomish River in use by the Wallace Falls Timber company is of the heavy type in use on most railway construction and it is rumoured that the railway officials had some ultimate purpose in mind in getting the timber company to build such a bridge." Unfortunately for the Wallace Falls Timber Co., the Great Northern did not act on any of their plans and surveys for realignment of the mainline between Gold Bar and Index for over 30 more years. By the time GN's 'Reiter Revision' to reduce curvature and ease the ruling grades was under construction in 1960, the WFT had gone out of business, and their trestle was in a state of disrepair. The logging railroad's bridge was demolished not long before the new GN line went into use in 1962. Today the concrete piers stand as the few clues that this place once hosted another railroad.
Thanks to Dave Sprau for his research, and permission to post the above.
This refinery has legs. Often called the world’s most travelled refinery, the Strathcona refinery has made its way through hill and valley, war and peace, and through the ebbs and flows of Canada’s oil industry.
When the company discovered oil in Leduc in 1947, Alberta’s oil industry began to happen. The refinery made its way from Whitehorse on barges, trucks, rail and ice-roads to find its final home on the outskirts of Edmonton.
Today, a more modern version of the refinery provides products for Canada and the Northern U.S., and is one of the most safe, reliable and profitable refineries in North America.
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HIT THE 'L' KEY FOR A BETTER VIEW! Thanks for the favs and comments. Much Appreciated.
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All of my photographs are under copyright ©. None of these photographs may be reproduced and/or used in any way without my permission....talk to me 😊
© VanveenJF Photography
…….Pears transparent soap has been found in bathrooms since 1807. And I bet it made Sir Andrew Pears a few gold bullion bars too!!! Held my phone torchlight behind the bar of soap to backlight it for Marco Mondays theme ‘Bathroom’. HMM, have a great week & stay Covid Safe wherever you are, Alan;-).……
For the interested I’m growing my Shutterstock catalogue regularly here, now sold 58 images :- www.shutterstock.com/g/Alan+Foster?rid=223484589&utm_...
©Alan Foster.
©Alan Foster. All rights reserved. Do not use without permission.……
Wallace Falls, Gold Bar. Washington State, USA.
Contax G1, Carl Zeiss Planar 35/2. Kodak Ultramax 400.
Another look at a Townsend's Soliitaire.
Several contacts told me they have never heard of this bird, or rarely see them. The text below is from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology:
"The Townsend’s Solitaire is an elegant, wide-eyed songbird of western-mountain forests. Their drab gray plumage gets a lift from subtly beautiful buffy wing patches and a white eyering. Though they're thrushes, they perch upright atop trees and shrubs to advertise their territories all year long, and can easily be mistaken for flycatchers. Their sweet jumbling song gives them away and enlivens their evergreen forest and juniper woodland homes. In winter they switch from eating primarily insects to eating fruit, particularly juniper berries."
In my area, there is a very low Juniper Berry production this year, but the local Solitaires seem to have found a place where berries are abundant on other trees with a high berry count that they are now foraging on.
Goldbar Park. Edmonton, Alberta.
UP LDG51 rumbles past Gold Bar Canyon along the Colorado River near Moab, Utah after departing the potash mine on its return trip up the Cane Creek Branch. The branch was built in 1962 to serve the newly opened potash mine and plant, then owned by Texas Gulf Sulphur. The Rio Grande contracted Morrison-Knudsen to build the entire branch including the 1.3-mile-long tunnel through Bootlegger Canyon.
She picked the cone from the ground and flew up the tree to get the seeds out. Its been a terrific year for them. Goldbar Park Edmonton Alberta.
For the Smile on Saturday challenge, Music for my eyes.
Happy Saturday
Music Link ; www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnr3UKwYnKk
Das aktuell eher wenig zu Fototouren einlandende Wetter nutze ich nun, um endlich wieder etwas aus dem Urlaub im April 2024 zu zeigen. Was fehlte im bunten Sammelsurium der deutschen Straßenbahnen in Arad unter meinen Bildern bisher gänzlich? Richtig, die Fahrzeuge aus der Maschinenfabrik Esslingen. Eines der beiden schönsten Exemplare war für mich der Wagen 608 mit der Mömax-Vollwerbung inklusive Haribo-Goldbär. Hier hat er morgens die Endhaltestelle Sere (Linie 16) ganz im Süden der Stadt erreicht und fährt ins Wendedreieck. Die Mitfahrt habe ich sehr genossen, nicht nur wegen des sehr markanten Sounds der Stuttgarter GT4. Dazu kommt nämlich, dass der 608 bereits 1995 nach Rumänien kam, aber im Innenraum noch die originalen Stuttgarter Netz- und Tarifpläne von 1993 hängen. Ein Einzelfahrschein für Zone 1 kostete damals 2,50 Mark, für Kinder 1,20.
first night shot with the Viltrox 40mm/2.5. a bit cold at -20 but worked out oke.
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This refinery has legs. Often called the world’s most travelled refinery, the Strathcona refinery has made its way through hill and valley, war and peace, and through the ebbs and flows of Canada’s oil industry.
When the company discovered oil in Leduc in 1947, Alberta’s oil industry began to happen. The refinery made its way from Whitehorse on barges, trucks, rail and ice-roads to find its final home on the outskirts of Edmonton.
Today, a more modern version of the refinery provides products for Canada and the Northern U.S., and is one of the most safe, reliable and profitable refineries in North America.
------------------
HIT THE 'L' KEY FOR A BETTER VIEW! Thanks for the favs and comments. Much Appreciated.
-------------
All of my photographs are under copyright ©. None of these photographs may be reproduced and/or used in any way without my permission...Just ask!
© VanveenJF Photography
With a more moderate winter starting for the 2019- 2020 season, Stevens pass was starting to look like it was due for a very dry and low snow accumulation winter. On January 12th, a more moderate size winter storm came along the horizon. Predictions called for several feet of snow to fall within a span of a couple days. As the storm hit, it brought along wet and heavy concrete snowfall for the western side of Stevens Pass. With the large amount of snow falling at a fast rate, the weight of snow accumulations on trees started to take its toll as they began to topple over, blocking roads, highways and BNSF's railroad mainline. The reality of the storm left towns like Index, Baring and Skykomish, Washington without power and access to the towns for almost a week as crews cleared down trees and power lines. This storm was no easy ride for the railroad either as trains became stranded in between trees falling by the minute and along with a level 3 avalanche warning in place on certain sections between Wenatchee and Goldbar, Washington. Once the dust settled six days after the storm began, access to towns were reopened and the railroad had sawed through over 250 trees in a rough 9 mile section east of Skykomish where most of the damage had taken place. With all trees and no more risk of avalanche warnings, BNSF brought one of the final fixes to the route that needed to be done before trains can be running smoothly again. A 3 man train crew from Everett, Washington join Maintenance crews in Skykomish and spent the day clearing the snow along the route over Stevens Pass. Scenic, Washington.