In the blink of an eye, or a camera

December 31, 2024

Arizona’s Pipevine Swallowtail

Favorite images from 2024

Yes. It is a hard list to narrow down. I have favorite creatures, and favorite places that likely bias the ranking. More importantly the less I write, the more room for some of my best moments and best luck over the past 12 months. Oh, and Happy New Year (!)

“Easy buddy”— “Brian” the moose grazing in a thicket near my Spokane River swimming hole in west Spokane. Sometimes he dives in (moose are really good swimmers) and makes things interesting.

Male Western Bluebird flashing from its nesting cavity in search of insects for its brood.

Aggregating anemonies in a tidepool at Olympic Beach 3

Mule deer doe folding back on herself to scratch where it itches

Northern Cardinal feasting on dried berries at the Red Rock state park south of Sedona, AZ

River otters at Joe Creek near the ocean at Pacific Beach, WA

Tail-fanning Calliope hummingbird, North America’s smallest bird

Shadowing a hunting garter snake in the rimrock in late summer

Solo porcupine probing the forest floor in Riverside State Park

Yawning Double-Crested Cormorant, on a small basalt island in the river west of Spokane

Red-breasted Nuthatch seed hunting on a lichen-covered branch. The white lightning streak above the black eye band is really striking, if you can get close enough to see it…

—tjc