Promo image for my Patreon site: A sea gull takes advantage of the lack of people to chill out atop a post as the sun rises out of the ocean behind the Nags Head Pier in Nags Head, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Another gull flies by on its daily sunrise commute down the beach. The pier and birds are rendered as silhouettes agains the orange sky and rising sun that is halfway out of the ocean.

Latest public post up at my Patreon site for my landscape and nature photography (you'll be able to view a higher resolution version there). The sun rises out of the ocean behind the Nags Head Fishing Pier.

#landscape #OBX #OuterBanks #Sunrise #ShamelessSelfPromotion #ArtPhotography #Photography

An American White Pelican lands on the Lewis River in Western Washington State. 1 of 4

An American White Pelican lands on the Lewis River in Western Washington State. 2 of 4

An American White Pelican lands on the Lewis River in Western Washington State. 3 of 4

An American White Pelican lands on the Lewis River in Western Washington State. 4 of 4

White Pelican Flight 48 Landing Now

An American White Pelican lands on the Lewis River in Western Washington State.

#Washington #AmericanWhitePelican #Birds #artPhotography #photography #fineArtPhotography #PNW #wildlifePhotography #BirdPhotography

Male Wood Duck, Ridgefield NWR, Washington State. The duck is swimming amidst red water plants, with green marsh grass behind it. Its reflection is partially visible in gaps in the red plants on the water;s surface.

Male Wood Duck, Ridgefield NWR, Washington State.

#Washington #RidgefieldNWR #artPhotography #photography #NationalWildlifeRefuge #fineArtPhotography #PNW #wildlifePhotography #Birds #WoodDuck

Take Hike Human - You're Cramping my Style! A male red-winged blackbird sings and displays perched among the cattails at Ridgefield NWR in Washington state. He's on the very top of a reed, looking straight in to the camera. His tail is flared out and and his bright red-orange shoulder patches are ruffled out and his wings are a little unfurled. His beak is open as he sings.

Take Hike Human - You're Cramping my Style!

A male red-winged blackbird singing among the cattails of Ridgefield NWR in Washington state.

#Washington #RidgefieldNWR #artPhotography #photography #NationalWildlifeRefuge #fineArtPhotography #PNW #wildlifePhotography #Birds #redwingedblackbird

A Great Egret amidst marsh grass in the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in western Washington State,. The big white wading bird is stalking through the tall grass, hunting for a mid-morning snack. In its sharp yellow beak, it has a small creature, perhaps a dragonfly or tadpole, that it has just snatched from the water. In another few seconds, it will swallow its tiny prey and resume the hunt.

A Great Egret amidst marsh grass in the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in western Washington State,. The big white wading bird is stalking through the tall grass, hunting for a mid-morning snack. In its sharp yellow beak, it has a small creature, perhaps a dragonfly or tadpole, that it has just snatched from the water. In another few seconds, it will swallow its tiny prey and resume the hunt.

Great Egret, Small Snack

A Great Egret on the hunt at the Ridgefield NWR in Washington state catches a ... dragonfly? Tadpole?

#Washington #RidgefieldNWR #artPhotography #photography #NationalWildlifeRefuge #fineArtPhotography #WadingBird #PNW #wildlifePhotography #Birds #GreatEgret

Thank you!

A Wilson's Snipe hunting in muddy grass at the water's edge, Ridgefield NWR in Washington state. A medium-sized bird with a long bill, large black eyes, and and brown, black and white feathers, with distinctive white stripes down its back when its wings are folded.

A Wilson's Snipe hunting in muddy grass at the water's edge, Ridgefield NWR in Washington state. Another first for me.

#Washington #RidgefieldNWR #artPhotography #photography #NationalWildlifeRefuge #fineArtPhotography #WadingBird #PNW #wildlifePhotography #Birds #WilsonsSnipe

A Long-billed Dowitcher, a first for me, catches a tasty worm in the shallows of a pond in the Ridgefield NWR in Washington state. The bird is a chunky, with brown and white feathers, greenish-yellow legs and a long bill. It's wading in a few inches of water at the pond's edge, one leg lifted up as it walks forward, right-to-left across the frame. A large worm dangles from its bill. After a brief wash off, it will be a fine mid-morning meal. Small clumps of mud and vegetation around the bird break up the still surface of the water.

A Long-billed Dowitcher, a first for me, catches a tasty worm in the shallows of a pond in the Ridgefield NWR in Washington state.

#Washington #RidgefieldNWR #artPhotography #photography #NationalWildlifeRefuge #fineArtPhotography #WadingBird #PNW #wildlifePhotography #Birds #LongBilledDowitcher

I did a double take when I first caught sight of him.

A stunning cinnamon colored duck with red eyes and a black bill, foraging amidst the marsh grasses in the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Washington state. There's water dripping off its bill and ripples emanating out from the duck disturbing the reflections in the water. I believe this is a male Cinnamon Teal in breeding plumage.

This is, I believe, a male Cinnamon Teal, a bird I've never encountered before, all dressed up in his breeding season best at the Ridgefield NWR.

#Washington #RidgefieldNWR #artPhotography #photography #NationalWildlifeRefuge #fineArtPhotography #CinnamonTeal #PNW #wildlifePhotography #Birds

A really long lens helps. I shot this with what was effectively a 900 mm lens, and then cropped in some.

Pie-billed Grebe, Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, Portland, Oregon. The mostly brown bird, with black wings and shoulders, and a patch of white at its tail, if facing away from the camera. The grebe has turned its head to the left, in parallel to the camera, showing off its distinctive black striped yellow-brown bill. Dimpled circles in the still water radiate out from the bird, distorting its reflection.

Pie-billed Grebe, Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, Portland, Oregon.

Oaks Bottom is a great place to stroll around, looking for birds in the wetlands.

#Oregon #Portland #OaksBottomWildlifeRefuge #artPhotography #photography #fineArtPhotography #PieBilledGrebe #PNW #wildlifePhotography #Birds

American White Pelican cruising the Lewis River in Washington State. The bill adornment means it's mating season. Horizontal color photograph: the bird is swimming right-to-left across the frame, leaving a trail in the water behind him (not big enough to be wake). The pelican is pure white, with a yellow patch around its blue eye, and an orange bill. About 2/3 of the way down the bill is a small, sail-looking protrusion that indicates mating season.

American White Pelican cruising the Lewis River in Washington State. The bill adornment means it's mating season. My first time encountering a white pelican.

#Washington #AmericanWhitePelican #birds #artPhotography #photography #fineArtPhotography #PNW #wildlifePhotography #BirdPhotography

A Bushtit (I think) perched, facing right-to-left and diagonally downward, on a slim branch amongst the pinkish-white cherry blossoms of Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, Oregon.

Another of a Bushtit amongst the cherry blossoms of Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, Oregon.

#Portland #Birds #BirdPhotography #PNW #Oregon #ArtPhotography #WildlifePhotography #Spring #CherryBlossoms

Adult Bald Eagle perched on a large tree branch along the Lewis River in Washington State. The Eagle is looking to the frame right, and its along are barely visible where it grips the branch. The white feathers of its tail are visible below the branch. The background sky is blown out, as it was overcast and the sun was behind the bird.

Adult Bald Eagle just hanging out along the Lewis River in Washington State.

#Washington #LewisRiver #BaldEagle #artPhotography #photography #fineArtPhotography #PNW #wildlifePhotography #BirdPhotography #Birds #TalonTuesday

A small brown bird, a bushtit, I believe, perches on a branch amongst the cherry blossoms along the downtown Portland, Oregon, waterfront.

A bushtit, I believe, amongst the cherry blossoms along the downtown Portland, Oregon, waterfront.

#Portland #Birds #BirdPhotography #PNW #Oregon #ArtPhotography #WildlifePhotography #Spring #CherryBlossoms

Thank you! And there was some waiting involved for this - maybe 20-30 minutes, if memory serves.

A mature bald eagle flies back towards its perch, trailing water droplets after successfully snatching a smelt out of the swollen Lewis River in Washington State. The eagle is sideways to the river, facing the camera, wings fully outstretched, beak open as it boasts of its success to the other eagles in the area.

Bald Eagle

This eagle looks awfully proud of themselves for snatching a smelt out of the cresting Lewis River and eating it in flight. Lewis River, Washington State.

#Washington #LewisRiver #BaldEagle #artPhotography #photography #fineArtPhotography #PNW #wildlifePhotography #BirdPhotography

American White Pelicans and Double Crested Cormorants hanging out on a fallen tree in the middle of the swollen Lewis River in Washington. The Pelicans are preening, while the cormorants are just relaxing.

The Gathering Place

American White Pelicans and Double Crested Cormorants hanging out on a fallen tree in the middle of the swollen Lewis River in Washington.

#Washington #LewisRiver #AmericanWhitePelican #artPhotography #photography #fineArtPhotography #PNW #wildlifePhotography #BirdPhotography

American White Pelicans and Double Crested Cormorants hanging out on a fallen tree in the middle of the swollen Lewis River in Washington. The Pelicans are preening, while the cormorants are just relaxing.

The Gathering Place

American White Pelicans and Double Crested Cormorants hanging out on a fallen tree in the middle of the swollen Lewis River in Washington.

#Washington #LewisRiver #AmericanWhitePelican #artPhotography #photography #fineArtPhotography #PNW #wildlifePhotography #BirdPhotography

A bald eagle flies out of the Lewis River in Western Washington with a fresh caught smelt in its mouth. A trail of water droplets falls from the eagle's talons. The eagle has the smelt, torn from being snatched, in its beak - it will swallow the fish on the fly a few seconds later.

Bald Eagle with Fresh Caught Smelt

Taken along the Lewis River in Western Washington. The eagle swallowed its prey on the wing a few seconds later.

#Washington #LewisRiver #BaldEagle #artPhotography #photography #fineArtPhotography #PNW #wildlifePhotography #BirdPhotography

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Paul Cory | Patreon Landscape, Nature and Wildlife Photography.

www.patreon.com/cw/PaulCory

Horizontal color phot: The Bodie Island Light and Milky Way. The Bodie Island Lighthouse, with its distinctive thick black and white horizontal stripes glows against the night sky on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The core of the Milky Way can be seen just to the right of light house, partially obscured by the building.

On March 24th, 2026, I will give away a 16x20T print of this image of Bodie Island Light House and Milky Way to one of my paid Patreon Subscribers (either paid level). Subscribers get early access to new photos, and top level subscribers get discounts on prints and calendars. Link below.

A Great Blue Heron checks out the view from atop one of the tallest trees in the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge just outside Portland, Oregon. This heron and its mate - I think - were flying around checking out various tree tops, as if they were shopping for a nesting site. Vertical color photograph: The branching trunk of the evergreen tree comes in from the lower left corner of the image and rises on a slight back-bending curve to a point about 2/3rd of the way up the image. There, at the very top, a Great Blue Heron perches in profile, looking left-to-right, head slightly raised, and long neck in a slight S-shape.

A Great Blue Heron checks out the view from atop one of the tallest trees in the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge just outside Portland, Oregon.

#Oregon #Portland #TualatinRiverNWR #artPhotography #photography #fineArtPhotography #GreatBlueHeron #PNW #wildlifePhotography #BirdPhotography

A Song Sparrow doing its job in the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge just outside Portland, Oregon. Vertical color photograph: A song sparrow, facing left-to-right, in profile to the camera, sings as it perches on an almost vertical branch. Its beak is wide open, and it's surround by the new leaves of the Spring season that's almost here.

A Song Sparrow doing its job in the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge just outside Portland, Oregon.

#Oregon #Portland #TualatinRiverNWR #artPhotography #photography #fineArtPhotography #SongSparrow #PNW #wildlifePhotography #BirdPhotography

Thank you!

Thanks! It was a special moment.