Along Airport Way in Hoquiam, Wash., not far from the Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge and the osprey nest on Paulson Road, there is a path leading off the road...
...through grass and blackberry bushes and trees...
...to a wide area of salt marsh and mudflat along the Grays Harbor bay.
Waaaay back in August of this year (hence the title of this post), I hiked roughly a mile and half from my apartment near downtown Hoquiam to photograph this area.
The first thing I noticed when breaking through the tree line was a large flock of brown pelicans.
I often see brown pelicans on the coast in Westport or Ocean Shores, but rarely on the bay in Hoquiam, about 25 miles inland. And when I do see them on the bay, it's usually one or two, not an entire flock.
News reports at the time in both The (Aberdeen) Daily World and Seattle Times were trumpeting the abundance of pelicans on the coast, thanks to conservation efforts, so maybe I'll get to see them more often.
As soon as I saw the pelicans I switched from my wide angle lens to my 75-300mm zoom, hoping to get photos without disturbing them. This effort was in vain, as they immediately began to take off and head farther inland. But, they did fly right past me, first just one or a few of them at a time.
I'm not sure what photobombed me in that last photo, whether it is an insect or small bird, but it actually resulted in the most in focus shot of the pelicans that I took that day.
Eventually, probably because I kept moving around and trying to get closer, the entire flock took off and headed across the bay.
Leaving a sudden emptiness.
With the pelicans gone I switched back to my wide angle lens to photograph the landscape.
Nervously switched back, I should say. It was windy that day, and as you'll see, there could have been a lot of grass seed and who-knows-what in the air. I hate exposing the inside of my camera to dirt, because, frankly, I don't know how to clean it. But needs must, I guess.
I took quite a few photos that include this tree trunk with roots. Presumably it is a piece of driftwood that got deposited 'right side up' at some point. It has been there since I first discovered this area a few years ago. Just waiting for the next monster tide to move it.
I just love the grass catching the sunlight.
There are plenty of interesting pieces of driftwood to photograph.
I almost feel I should mark this one NSFW.
There are deep ravines and standing water hidden in the grass. It's usually best to walk on the driftwood when moving to different locations on the shore.
I forget how long I was out there. Probably a couple hours, and the day just kept getting sunnier.
This area along Airport Way is just west of Hoquiam's newest public park, named Old Cannery Park. When I first started taking photos five years ago, the park was just a wide, gravel drive off, full of potholes and brush. They've since paved it, built a shelter with picnic benches, and installed benches overlooking the bay. I prefer wild spaces to cultivated areas, but I did take a peek back at the edge of the park, and late in the photoshoot caught a guy napping on one of the benches.
In the end I trekked all the way down to the Port terminal, where the pelicans were gathered when I first arrived, for this shot looking back at the wide expanse of the mudflat.
