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Chelanistan

PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2012 3:55 pm
by svizzerams
Two off three Owlets in a tree near my home...

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Re: Chelanistan 2012

PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:56 pm
by Mikethehack
Love owls. Cool pix.

Re: Chelanistan 2012

PostPosted: Mon May 21, 2012 2:42 am
by svizzerams
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A favorite place to hike into...

Dry Falls is a 3.5 mile long scalloped precipice in central Washington, on the opposite side of the Upper Grand Coulee from the Columbia River, and at the head of the Lower Grand Coulee. Ten times the size of Niagara, Dry Falls is thought to be the greatest known waterfall that ever existed. According to the current geological model, catastrophic flooding channeled water at 65 miles per hour through the Upper Grand Coulee and over this 400-foot (120 m) rock face at the end of the last ice age. At this time, it is estimated that the flow of the falls was ten times the current flow of all the rivers in the world combined.

Nearly twenty thousand years ago, as glaciers moved south, an ice sheet dammed the Clark Fork (river) near Sandpoint, Idaho. Consequently, a significant portion of western Montana flooded, forming the gigantic Lake Missoula. About the same time, Glacial Lake Columbia was formed on the ice-dammed Columbia River behind the Okanogan lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. Lake Columbia's overflow – the diverted Columbia River – drained first through Moses Coulee and as the ice dam grew, later through the Grand Coulee.

Eventually, water in lake Missoula rose high enough to float the ice dam until it gave way, and a portion of this cataclysmic flood spilled into Glacial Lake Columbia, and then down the Grand Coulee. It is generally accepted that this process of ice-damming of the Clark Fork, refilling of Lake Missoula and subsequent cataclysmic flooding happened dozens of times over the years of the last Ice Age.[1][2]

This sudden flood put parts of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon under hundreds of feet of water in just a few days. These extraordinary floods greatly enlarged the Grand Coulee and Dry Falls in a short period. The large plunge pools at the base of Dry Falls were created by these floods.

Once the ice sheet that obstructed the Columbia melted, the river returned to its normal course, leaving the Grand Coulee and the falls dry. Today, this massive cliff can be viewed from the Dry Falls Interpretive Center, part of Sun Lakes State Park, and located on Route 17 near the town of Coulee City. Admission is free.

Re: Chelanistan 2012

PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2012 5:12 am
by coldharvest
awesome owl pictures
how close were you?

Re: Chelanistan 2012

PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2012 7:03 pm
by svizzerams
coldharvest wrote:awesome owl pictures
how close were you?


They hang out on a branch that is about 50 or so feet up - to get a clear shot of them means walking back aways however. This morning all three juveniles were on the same branch huddled together, one branch up higher was momma owl. I'm using a 20x zoom point and shoot Lumix, at full zoom even, to get a not very stellar image, but it illustrates them well enough. They are cool and fun to watch - just hope they don't make a meal of my cat.

Re: Chelanistan 2012

PostPosted: Wed May 23, 2012 7:40 am
by gnaruki
You might like a book called Cataclysms on the Columbia: a layman's guide to the features produced by the catastrophic Bretz floods in the Pacific Northwest

I thumbed through it awhile back and I'll probably get around to picking up a copy. The copy I found was $35 and thats ridiculous for used paperback.

Re: Chelanistan 2012

PostPosted: Thu May 24, 2012 12:31 am
by svizzerams
gnaruki wrote:You might like a book called Cataclysms on the Columbia: a layman's guide to the features produced by the catastrophic Bretz floods in the Pacific Northwest

I thumbed through it awhile back and I'll probably get around to picking up a copy. The copy I found was $35 and thats ridiculous for used paperback.


I'll have to pick that one up for my geology collection, available reasonably price on Amazon - I like the roadside geology series as well. One advantage to living in the high desert is you can actually see the geology. Partly why I chose to go to Namibia - the geology isn't all covered up with foliage and buildings and criss crossed by endless highways.

Re: Chelanistan 2012

PostPosted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 4:42 pm
by svizzerams
Summer....but what is with all the wind!!!???

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Re: Chelanistan 2012

PostPosted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 2:46 am
by ReptilianKittenEater
Nice pair of hooters.

Sorry I could not resist.

Re: Chelanistan 2012

PostPosted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:12 am
by matt5058
Really nice pictures, love that last panoramic shot.

Re: Chelanistan 2012

PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 2012 11:52 pm
by rickshaw92
svizzerams wrote:Two off three Owlets in a tree near my home...

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Lovely Luv.

Re: Chelanistan 2012

PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 4:37 am
by svizzerams
Watched this eagle fishing in a small lake in the next valley over....it was successful :-)

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Shooting Ospreys

PostPosted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 3:36 am
by svizzerams
Practicing with a new lens....Canon 100-400mm f/4-5.6l

The setting: Columbia River

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The Ospreys and their very unimpressive nest - (it is a bit of a raptor heaven around here - everything from Bald Eagles to the American Kestrels, which are pretty tiny)

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