Good evening everyone --

I'm new to this mailing list, so I'll provide a brief introduction. My name
is Raymond Parsons from Redmond, WA and I became aware of "Tweeters" via my
wife Laura Parsons (previously Laura Hughes). Laura graduated from the
University of Washington with a degree in Wildlife Biology.

I've recently been bitten by the photo bug and given that Laura is very much
into nature, taking pictures of the outdoors seems like a good fit for me. I
will acknowledge upfront that my photography skills are pretty limited, but
I'm trying to learn quickly. Any pointers are greatly appreciated.

Enough with the introduction. Today Laura and I went to Damon State Park to
try to get some pictures of the Snowy Owl. We were very fortunate to see
anywhere from 4 - 8 owls, and I was able to get some pretty good pictures.
Unfortunately, the ISO setting on my camera may have been a little high, so
most of the pictures will be somewhat noisy. My apologies - I'll be sure to
check this setting the next time I go.

The photos that I took today are posted here
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/rparsons/sets/1807816/). I'm still battling to
get the other 150 or so uploaded, so expect more to come later. I have
uploaded my three most favorite pictures to my "Nature 2006" photoset
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/rparsons/sets/1719560/) for quick viewing. In
addition to the Snowy Owl, I got several pictures of some Western Grebes.

If you'd like more information on our bird sightings, please send me an
e-mail. Expect more pictures to be available as the year goes on.

Raymond & Laura Parsons
Redmond, WA
rayshome1 at hotmail.com