McLane Creek Nature Trail is located just off Delphi Road outside of Olympia.  (Click for a map) Since it’s very close to my house, it’s the place I go most often to photograph birds and ducks.  I’ve put together a collection of some of the wildlife I’ve spotted there over the past spring and summer.

You can walk the trails at McLane quickly for exercise, or you can stop and linger, waiting for the birds to show themselves.  Patience becomes the name of the game if you’re trying to see the birds.  I suggest you take the longest lens you own and also a pair of binoculars.  (I shot all of these with my Fuji X-T1 with the Fuji 100-400mm lens.)  Almost all of what you’ll see is in the area around the ponds.  If you venture back into the woods, it’s a great walk, but you won’t see very many birds and it’s too dark back there to photograph well anyway.

Another close by spot for wildlife photography is the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge just off I-5 north of Olympia.  It’s not quite as convenient as McLane, but I still get up there several times a year.

Here is a link to all of my photos taken at McLane Creek and Nisqually NWR this summer.