cliffagreen 3Speak Podcast

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=cliffagreen/94551017 On Monday this week I was in the right place at the right time to catch the Hoquiam, Wash., tugboats passing directly beneath me as I stood on Simpson Avenue Bridge. This short clip of the Rowdy will complement my upcoming Photography Lovers post covering the whole event. In the beginning of the clip you can just barely make out the smooth diesel engine of the tugboat before the traffic on the bridge's steel grate behind me covers it up. Near the end, when the view bounces around, it's actually the bridge bouncing when the big trucks cross over. The Photography Lovers post will come out later today. Check it out for more photos.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=cliffagreen/dyibmhjw Last fall I had a photoshoot on the Grays Harbor bay in Hoquiam, Wash. This short clip will complement my Photography Lovers post of that shoot. It took me forever to identify these birds as American wigeons. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology site All About Birds shows photos of them with a prominent green stripe on the head, which I wasn't seeing in my photos. It's possible that is a result of the early morning, cloudy light; maybe that black head does have green in it. The white crown and the way they dabble (or bob) on the surface as they feed (rather than diving under) makes me 99 percent sure of my identification.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=cliffagreen/wjwxthtq For this, the third episode of my new video series, "Sunday Morning Sound," I visited the Hoquiam River in my hometown of Hoquiam, Wash. The Hoquiam River runs for about five miles through the city of Hoquiam before emptying into the Grays Harbor bay. Source The location filmed here is just two blocks from my apartment and one of my favorite spots to visit. Sounds of note There are a lot of birds greeting the day in this video, which I shot just around dawn. The two that take center stage are a kingfisher and a pair of shorebirds. The shorebirds I've identified as greater yellowlegs, using the Merlin Bird ID app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website All About Birds. I watched them flying over the river, but failed to catch them in the frame. Their eerie calls as they went by are crystal clear though (and perfectly suited for the foggy morning!). There were a couple of kingfishers around that morning, and I did manage to film one of them. Their rattling calls are present as background in many of the scenes. I highly recommend the Merlin Bird ID app if you're interested in identifying birds for your Hive posts. I didn't have a photo or video of the shorebirds to refer to when trying to pin down their variety, but with the app, all I had to do was hold my phone over my computer speaker, hit 'Sound ID' in the app, and play the recording. Worked like a charm. The app isn't perfect: when there are several birds going at once, it can be difficult to figure out which sound the app is ID'ing. Hence the scene in this video that I've entitled "The Mystery Bird(s)." Thanks for watching (and listening)!

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=cliffagreen/orzodnrg This week (Sunday morning at dawn) I revisited Dog Marsh on the Grays Harbor bay. Dog Marsh is Hoquiam, Wash.'s, unofficial dog park. The site is 44 acres of undeveloped Port of Grays Harbor property situated on the bay just west of the mouth of the Hoquiam River. Much of the year, the land there is saturated and dotted with pools of water, hence the nickname "Dog Marsh." In the summer, it's mostly just a broad grass field, though certain areas have been designated as wetlands. The land is bordered on three sides by water: the Hoquiam River on the east, a small tidal inlet to the west, and the bay on the south. A jumble of steep riprap leads down to the water on all three sides: I spent my time this week on the narrow bay shoreline, at the edge of the rock next to the submerged tidal mudflat. Rennie Island, a wooded, undeveloped spit of land, lies to the south across the channel used to ocean vessels coming to dock at the port. Sounds of note in this episode include an owl (which I've tentatively identified as a Western screech owl), which called from Rennie Island just as I started filming. I never saw the owl, but it's call was clear as day coming across the water. Later, a sea lion came up for a blow. I did manage to catch the sea lion on film, at a distance. You'll also hear tweeting birds from the marsh, some Canada geese, and the ubiquitous sea gulls, as well as see and hear fish splashing. This is the second episode of "Sunday Morning Sounds," and the first one that can be considered full-length, clocking in near 5 minutes long. You can view the first episode, with otters and a Savannah sparrow, here. I'm not sure if I'm going to make it out every Sunday for a new episode, but I definitely plan to produce "Sounds" as a recurring feature of my blog. Watch for it!

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=cliffagreen/nadtwpht This short video features the sound of two wildlife companions that visited me on a recent Sunday morning photowalk along the Grays Harbor bay in Hoquiam, Wash. It will complement my upcoming Photography Lovers post. First, while I was composing the shot that I'm using as a thumbnail for this video, a family of otters swam by, and one of them was chirping as they went, a sound I had never heard before. Later, a little bird I've tentatively identified as a Savannah sparrow perched on a bit of driftwood just above me and chirped at the morning. Generating that little peep practically took its whole body: it shook its chest and made it difficult for it to stand still on its perch. You can also hear the ambient sounds of the wildlife on the bay waking up to greet the day.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=cliffagreen/mqtyrgbg Barking, squabbling, splashing ... a colony of sea lions can make quite a ruckus! In October I had the opportunity to film a colony lounging on the docks in the marina in Westport, Wash., on the Pacific Coast. You can read about my daytrip to Westport, and see stills of the sea lions, in Sea Lions in Westport (PhotoFeed Contest - Wildlife).

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=cliffagreen/yfmycrym Sunday morning in Elton Bennett Park, a nature park in my hometown of Hoquiam, Wash. While recording birdsong, a Douglas squirrel started chirping on a tree nearby.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=cliffagreen/ubnatvbx On a sunny October morning, a least sandpiper treks the mudflat searching for invertebrates. In Hoquiam, Wash.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=cliffagreen/sqfgsrns Sunday morning. Birdsong. Tiresong on the steel grate of Simpson Avenue Bridge. A fishing boat heads downriver to the Grays Harbor bay. Waves lap the riverbank.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=cliffagreen/mpsjqtop The mist drifted across the Hoquiam River in Hoquiam, Wash., this morning just after dawn. A heron croaked. And near the riverbend, a harbor seal poked its head up.

https://3speak.tv/watch?v=cliffagreen/wuscyqkz A great blue heron preening along the Hoquiam River. Hoquiam, Wash.