Tag Archives: Othello

Drumheller Channels Pano

Drumheller Channels – Othello, Washington

This image is a hand-held pano taken above the Goose Lake trail head at the northern part of the Drumheller Channels reserve, just below O’Sullivan Dam.  This was our final stop on our Sandhill Crane photo shoot.  We took a leisurely hike (walk) to cap off a great trip.  Spring is a beautiful time to visit the Channels.  I was hoping for some big white puffy clouds.  But it just did not happen this trip.  I will return …

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Sometimes You Get Lucky

Scootney Reservoir Sunset – Othello, WA

After a chilly late afternoon / early evening Sandhill Crane photography shoot, we were looking for a rest area.  The closest one was at Scootney Park.  As we drove down to the lake, the sun had just gone down below the western hills.  The red, orange, and pink colors covered the sky and reflected over the lake.  The rest stop had to be delayed for a while while we captured the beautiful sunset.  We sure got lucky!

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More Ice Age Geology – Corfu Landslide

Corfu Landslide – Saddle Mountains, Central Washington

This image was taken from  Lower Crab Creek Road.  It is a small section of the Corfu Landslide. Lower Crab creek is in the foreground. This part of the landslide was probably post Missoula Floods.  It looked like the rocks at the base were not eroded, hence it probably occurred following the last floods.  The land slide extends upward to the Saddle Mountains crest.  A couple of weeks prior to taking this image,  I was at the crest of the Mountain looking down.  Refer to my post of 27 March.

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A Beautiful Morning

Small Lake in Othello Channels

After a great photo shoot of Sandhill Cranes in the early morning, we decided to take a drive on back roads and look for more cranes in a different direction.  We saw this little lake along side the road and just pulled off to do a little exploring.  It was such a beautiful morning and such a picturesque little scene.  I just couldn’t help but to stop and snap a postcard.  We didn’t find any more cranes … but we saw some nice scenery.

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Drumheller Channels: Missing a Tooth

Drumheller Channels – Othello, WA

The first thing I thought of when I looked up and saw this section of columnar basalt was that it was missing a tooth.  Columnar basalt is very susceptible to water erosion because of its many fissures.  The raging water of the Missoula Floods easily plucked the columns from their path.

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Amazing What Water Can Do

Large Pothole – Drumheller Channels

Water did this!  During the Missoula Floods water rushed through Drumheller Channels at about 55 miles per hour.  The water level was about 200 feet above the mesa on the upper right  corner of the photo.  Through the Drumheller Channels the water followed multiple channels.  Turbulent circular, tornado like, flows cut potholes throughout the area.  This one is unique due to the outcropping in the “eye” of the swirl.

A short walk on the Upper Goose Lake trail will bring you to this amazing phenomenon.  The uniqueness of this area continues to amaze me.

 

 

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Sandhill Crane (???) – Luminar

I just returned from a weekend photographing Sandhill Cranes near Othello, WA.  The cranes are on their migration path from central California, where they winter, to Alaska.  I am relatively new at bird photography.  I practice a lot to get decent images.  I took around 3500 images over a three day period.  My “decent image” percentage is about 2%..  The following sequence is what we went through to photograph the birds.  #1 – Find the birds.  The first day we spent about 4 hours before we saw any Sandhill’s.  #2 – Position myself  to get the sun behind my back.  Hope that wind is coming from the same direction.  The birds land and take off into the wind.  #3 – Have a lot of patience.  Don’t get excited and take hundreds of images of birds on the ground not doing anything or birds that are flying off way in the distance.  #4 – Wait for the birds to do something interesting like taking off/landing or “dancing” on the ground.  #5 – Anticipate, be be ready.  You do not have a lot of time to focus and shoot.  #6 – Make sure you are focused on the bird before you shoot.  I had a lot of blurry images (I meed a lot of practice).  #7 – Pray that you captured a few good images.  My success rate was not very good.  #8 – Shoot with someone who knows what they are doing.  Thank you Jack!!!

The above image was not my best, but it had some interesting lighting.  It was a good opportunity to do a little post processing.  I will include sharper images in future posts.

After looking at this, I laughed at myself.  This is not a sandhill crane … it’s a Canadian goose.  It is still a beautiful sight though.

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Missoula Floods: Facing Drumheller Channels

Drumheller Channels in Distance from Top of Saddle Mountain

This image was taken from the top of Saddle Mountain (~1,300 ft elevation) looking north east over the Othello basin toward the Drumheller Channels.  Imagine a wall of water 200 – 300 feet high racing over an 8-11 mile stretch over the Drumheller Channels at over 60 miles per hour.  This was the amount of water that was released (multiple times) when the Lake Missoula glacier dam broke releasing the water over the Eastern Washington basin.  Saddle Mountain broke the onslaught of water.  Some flowed west through the Crab Creek Coulee to the Columbia River and Sentinal Gap.  The remainder rushed around the eastern edge of the Mountain and into the Pasco Basin and Lake Lewis.

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