If you ask a native Portlander for directions to Sauvie Island, you are likely to be greeted first with a curious expression, and then a question – ‘Do you mean, Sauvie’s Island?’ I suspect that you could hand a guy the map of the area, stand him underneath the sign for the Island turn off, and he would still claim confidently that it’s ‘Sauvie’s’. Possessification is just one of those cultural things that sticks hard.
The image above of a bare oak tree with Mount St. Helens in the distance, was recorded at 09:45 PDT on December 26, 2009, using the Nikon D700 and the AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED at 70mm. Exposure was f/8 at 1/500s, ISO at 200. Those of you with eagle-eyes might notice that there is an eagle perched up in the oak tree.
The image above – as well as the rest of the images in this entry – were recorded on December 26, 2009 using the Nikon D3s and the AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4D ED-IF II fitted with the AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II (840mm FX). Minimal processing, e.g., a bit of Clarity was applied in the RAW conversion and light sharpening was applied to the final images. No cropping was used in the processing of these images.
December 26 was a hunt day, and we heard the pops of shotguns all day. At this time of year, access to non-hunters is pretty restricted – if I was to pay a return visit, I might actually suit up just to get a bit closer to the animals. On this visit we spotted several Bald eagles, a few hawks (exact species unknown)*, and a few hundred Canadian Geese. All-in-all a terrific winter exploration.
One of the most interesting creatures on the Island on this day was a most excellent gent, who was a virtual font of knowledge about the local wildlife. He sported a tidy set of overalls inside of a Carhartt jacket, and a fabulous big white beard. This guy would have been an awesome stand in for Santa Claus – just super actually, wait, it just occurred to me, what if…
Finally, a shout out of thanks to Brian P for arranging the rental of the Nikon AF-S 400mm and 600mm lenses – a complete blast!
** Note added on 1/5/2010: Jack Skalicky, a good friend and expert birder has provided a positive ID on that juvenile bird in the shot above: “It’s a buteo for sure. I see a speckled dark belly band on the perched bird, a dark head, dark underside of primaries, and a fairly clear black ‘patagial patch’ on the underside of wing and at leading edge (about middle of wing). This pretty much clinches a Red-tailed Hawk. A first-winter bird will NOT have red in tail but instead a very fine banding. This is not obvious from the images but everything else is consistent with Red-tailed Hawk.” Thanks, Jack!
The image below of Sauvie Island appears courtesy of Google Earth Imaging:
Tags: AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4D ED-IF II, Dusky Canadian Geese, Eagle, Hawk, Mount St. Helens, Santa Claus, Sauvie Island, TC-14E II
