a rambling story with some birds

ok, so first thing i want you to know is i do not own a camera with a telephoto lens. my best camera is a pocket camera and for a pocket camera it is a vey fine camera and that's great because i'm always shoving it into my pocket or into a drybag and yet i still want to take decent pictures and be able to shoot on manual.

it still doesn't shoot closeup pics unless i get really CLOSE UP to a thing.

ok, so on my way out toward the moscow boat access, the channel is marked by two dead trees, one of which always looks like there's a bird sitting on it. plus often there's a bird sitting on it.

so i was heading north toward the boat access and i saw some otters and then i was looking at a bunch of cormorants sitting on a log, and trying to figure if those ducks over there were mergansers so i was looking off to my left when i came up level with the dead tree on the right side and even though i was pretty close it was kind of foggy because early morning and as i was drifting closer and closer i kept thinking "wow. it is really amazing how the end of that log always looks like there's a bird perched on it."

and then suddenly i realized that now i was eyeball-to-talon with a very large eagle which had been up until that point sitting very still.

it gave me a bad look and then flew off.

an eagle is a very large thing to be looking at you that closely.

and not in an affectionate way.

but the eagle preferred me when i was looking the other way, and so as soon as i was looking at it, it flew off so of course no pictures.

ok, so then i got the things i needed out of my car and started going back down and when i got tot he snag that marks the opening into the main camping area, there was a cormorant sitting there. i don't care if they're common and they get shit on everything; i like cormorants.

and this one let me get close enough to take a really nice picture.

very, very close.