Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: bucket list

Gosling Portrait

Canada Goose Hen & Goslings at Eel Lake, Tugman St…

24 Apr 2021 75 49 681
(+2 insets!) (please view large for the most adorable view!) Bucket List Shots Do you have an actual list of pictures you hope to take some day? I don't, because it would take a lifetime to list them all! However, when I find them out in the world, I am catapulted star-ward and over the moon! Steve and I left Harrison Beach a few days ago and arrived at Tugman State Park several hours later. This is one of our favorite spots with its beautiful Eel Lake, skirted by two outstanding trails that we adore. My first morning I went to the end of the wonderful 1-mile long trail that leads out to a bench on a point where one can sit and enjoy the lovely view. When I arrived, my motion disturbed a family of geese--with BABIES!!!--and I wasn't quick enough to get decent pictures before they were too far away. I stared, cooing and in love, at the fluffy babies and their attentive parents. Maybe I'd see them again, I hoped. The next day I was all-consumed by macro photography and as luck would have it, didn't see any geese, though I did hear them. Yesterday though, I took my Sony bridge camera with it's marvelous 600mm zoom lens and crossed my fingers. Soon I got to the park's wide-open meadow with its picnic tables, gazebo and playground. The dock sat peacefully at the edge of the lake and I wandered over to the water to look at the view. Jackpot! Just then I spotted motion in the water. OH!!! The goosey family was there!!! And LOOK at how ADORABLE they were! One parent in front, a stream of fluffy babies, and then another parent. They motored along and I had my camera out and clicking away like a fiend. Then I noticed more movement...ANOTHER FAMILY!! OHHHHHH!!!!! So many chickies! I counted...one, two, three...four, five, six...SEVEN! My lucky number! I moved along with them very quietly and slowly, hoping they wouldn't swim away. The first family I spotted did swim away, but the second family wasn't worried about me and they swam closer and closer! In fact, the goslings emerged from the water at the boat ramp and walked around, their parents right there to keep an eye out for danger. Conveniently, there was bench and I sat there taking pictures and resisting the urge to coo at them out-loud! :D They all began to move towards the bank where I was seated and to my delight, up onto the grass scrambled a baby! And then two...three, four! One parent in the water with the other goslings, one on the grass with the adventurous kids; I sat, completely enchanted, and watched the little ones plucking at the grass and running around. I got to experience this magical scene for about ten minutes before one by one the goslings plopped back into the water, popping up like fluffy yellow corks, and rejoined the other chicks and parent, and the other parent slipped into the water behind them. Off they went and my beaming smile followed them as they cruised away. "Bucket List: Goslings and family"...COMPLETE! :D Hooray!!! (I have a couple of insets of the babies too! :) I hope you guys are all doing great! Explored on 4/24/21; highest placement #1.

Bucket List Shot! A REAL BALD EAGLE!!!

16 Aug 2019 76 52 955
Hi everyone! We're having a wonderful time on Vancouver Island! We've seen so many breathtaking sights and lots of "firsts" too. One of my dreams has always been to see a real-live bald eagle and since we've been here, Steve and I have seen at least five of them! In fact, we know what they sound like, isn't that something?! We have been staying at a number of places along the eastern coast of the island (only the lower half on the west shore has been developed) and the last place we visited was the furthest north, just south of Port Hardy at a First Nation campground called Cluxewe Resort. While we were there, we learned that a clutch of Bald Eagle chicks are raised in a nest visible from the campground, but unfortunately the chicks had already grown and flown away. However, I was still in luck! There is a specific tree that is a favorite watching spot for one of the eagles. It happens to be a two-minute walk from our trailer, and as luck would have it, I had my Sony zoom camera with me when the eagle was there! HOORAY!!! This picture is a total "bucket list" shot for me. On this trip we have seen a bald eagle here and there, flying overhead and landing on posts that are too far to photograph ("See that little dot? IT'S A BALD EAGLE, HONEST!!!"). I really would have been fine without a nice picture because we've seen them many times now, but having this picture has totally made my day!! I hope that all of you are doing well! It's a shame that I have no internet most of the time, and in fact, just getting this picture posted took FOREVER. I tried to post it three times last night without success, but finally today I have been able to post it. Pam, I hoped to upload that video I told you about…whatever was I thinking?! HAHAHAHAH…it will just have to wait until we have a better connection. You guys are all on my mind--I wish I could teleport everyone here to enjoy this spectacular place. It really is incredible and gives me a glimpse of what unspoiled splendor of nature actually looks like! Explored on August 17. Highest placement, #1.