Doug Koke

I haven’t lived in the States for six years, and I still find myself being swung between intense sadness and unbelievable rage so often o can barely manage it.

I can’t imagine what it must be like living in the Twin Cities. I just feel awful watching it happen.

I dont know why, but for as long as I can remember, I’ve maintained a self-imposed embargo on wearing pajama bottoms before bedtime.

Oh, friends. What a fool I’ve been.

Some timelapse I shot at an #abandoned farmstead near the tiny town of Haswell, #Colorado, population 71.

Lots of fun stuff here- a crazy sunset, a highly-active thunderstorm, and some green air-glow dancing over the milky way. #timelapse #photography #filmmaking #astrophotography #nature #stars

Plaza near the Hullo / seaplane terminal in Vancouver.

Waterfront by Canada place in Vancouver at dusk, on an uncharacteristically clear January evening.

The Hullo ferry launch, and a collection of gantries, loading up massive cargo ships coming in and out of Vancouver.

The Hullo catamaran ferry that runs between Nanaimo on Vancouver Island and Vancouver on the lower mainland of BC.

More pics from Vancouver.

#photography #Vancouver #britishcolumbia

Wandering a bit in the gastown neighborhood of Vancouver.

Some architecture near gastown in Vancouver.

Waterfront near Canada Place in Vancouver at sunset— small seaplanes take off and land often, ferrying passengers.

Vancouver’s famous Orca voxel statue. It looks like a breaching whale, made out of legos.

Took a quick trip across the strait to Vancouver this weekend. Didn’t take many photos, but it was nice to get off the island and enjoy a sunny day in the city.

#photography #Vancouver #britishcolumbia

It was super fun! I think I’ll definitely be going back for another visit sometime!

I apologize, but I don’t know exactly what kind of falcon this is. It’s very small and puffy, and very cute.

Another tiny little falcon that I don’t know the species of, unfortunately. This little guy is white, with dark grey speckles on its wings.

I love this little puffball. A tiny American Kestrel, fluffing his feathers to stay warm.

This is Charlie, who belonged to the woman running the admissions counter at the centre. When we first arrived, Charlie was just casually strolling around with a MASSIVE stork. Sadly, I didn’t have my camera out. It was bananas.

Last group of photos for now— more images from The Raptors on #VancouverIsland.

#wildlifephotography #birdphotography #photography #birds #animals #nature

An extreme closeup of the face of a Spectacled Owl named Elton. Elton is a female owl from South America and is 20 years old, which is getting up there for an owl, even in captivity,

Another image of Elton, a beautiful Spectacled Owl at The Raptors in Duncan, British Columbia.

Stika, a tiny Screech Owl snacks on a small piece of meat while she perches on her handler’s glove.

Sitka, an unduly adorable Screech Owl. It was incredibly hard to resist the temptation to pet her.

More shots from the Owl Encounter program at The Raptors in Duncan, BC.

#wildlifephotography #birdphotography #photography #birds #animals #nature #vancouverisland #britishcolumbia #owls #spectacledowl #screechowl

One of the handlers at The Raptors teaches a small audience about the beautiful bald eagle perched on her arm.

An adult bald eagle perched on a tree branch, as low morning sunlight filters through the forest behind him.

A turkey vulture. With a massive 6’ wingspan and one of the most sensitive olfactory systems on earth— they can detect just a few particles of carrion flesh from miles away — these things are fascinating, and quite common on Van Isle.

An absolute unit of a Turkey Vulture.

More pics from a flight demonstration at The Raptors birds-of-prey centre.

#wildlifephotography #birdphotography #photography #birds #animals #nature #vancouverisland #britishcolumbia #baldeagle #turkeyvulture #eagle #vulture

A teeny little American Kestrel whose cuteness is just completely unreasonable. He’s perched on a tree branch, puffing his feathers to stay warm on a sunny, but brisk December morning.

Another insanely adorable American Kestrel. These may have been the cutest birds I’ve ever seen.

Spock, a Great Horned Owl, looking super-impressive as he takes flight from his perch.

Two more shots of Spock, a beautiful Great Horned Owl. In the top panel, he’s captured in mid-flight, and in the second, he’s perching on his handler’s gloved hand.

More #birbs from The Raptors centre in Duncan, #BritishColumbia.

#wildlifephotography #birdphotography #photography #birds #animals #nature #kestrel #owl #greathornedowl #americankestrel

Arktos, an Eastern Great Horned Owl, perches on a tree branch.

Arktos the Great Horned Owl in flight, his intense yellow eyes fixed on his target.

Stika is a tiny Screech Owl. Sitka is ludicrously cute, and makes the best noises ever.

A close up of Sitka the Screech Owl, and a shot with Sitka and the biologist who takes care of her.

🧵 Second batch of photos from a trip to The Raptors birds-of-prey centre on #VancouverIsland.

#wildlifephotography #birdphotography #photography #birds #animals #nature #owls #screechowl #greathornedowl

If you love seeing these birds like I do, you can help them out by not using rodenticides, trying to minimize light pollution, and leaving dead trees standing in their habitats. 🦅🦉

Arktos, perched on a tree branch covered in oyster mushrooms, calls to his handler during a flight demonstration. He is an Eastern Great Horned Owl, with very light cream / white feathers, speckled with grey to spots to resemble light tree bark.

Arktos, a great horned owl, calls out from his perch and then launches into flight, making absolutely no sound with his wings.

A Gyrfalcon flies to its handler during an avian flight demonstration at The Raptors in Duncan, BC. The Gyrfalcon is grey, and sleek, and is incredibly fast.

Closeup of a Gyrfalcon. It’s about 13” tall, with a wingspan of maybe 3’.

Shots from a flight demonstration at The Raptors birds-of-prey centre.

#wildlifephotography #birdphotohraphy #photography #raptors #owl #falcon #gyrfalcon #greathornedowl #vancouverisland #britishcolumbia

A large Bald Eagle takes a perch on a twisted stump and enjoys a piece of meat during a flight demonstration at The Raptors bird centre.

A split image with a medium shot of an adult bald eagle sitting on a perch, and a close up of the bird’s head, looking a lot like the USPS logo.

Arktos, an Eastern Great Horned Owl rests on a perch between flights during a demonstration at The Raptors. His feathers are nearly white, dotted with dark charcoal speckles.

A massive Turkey Vulture gets comfortable on a perch during a flight demonstration. Its wingspan is about 7 feet.

A few more beautiful #birbs at The Raptors in Duncan, #BritishColumbia.

#photography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #baldeagle #greathornedowl #turkeyvulture #animals #nature

A black vulture, one of the residents of the The Raptors birds-of-prey centre in Duncan, BC.

A RIDICULOUSLY cute American Kestrel— one the smallest falcons in N. America. It’s adorable, and I want to squish it.

A grey owl turns his massive, parabolic face towards the camera. It’s crazy how the bird’s entire physiology is so well adapted to gathering sound and light to find food

A Harris Hawk sits on a handler’s gloved hand, waiting to give a flight demonstration.

More of the #birds at The Raptors sanctuary on #VancouverIsland.

#photography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #vulture #kestrel #greyowl #harrishawk #animals #nature

Elton, an adorable elderly (20 yrs old) spectacled owl rests gently on my mom’s gloved hand. My mom smiles in delight.

A closeup shot of Elton, lifting her wings a bit, as she prepares for a short flight.

Sitka, a itty-bitty Screech Owl around the size of a can of Coke, stretches their wings and flies in their enclosure.

Sitka comes in for a nimble landing on my sister’s gloved hand.

More #birb photos from The Raptors on #VancouverIsland.

Here’s a few more shots of Elton, the spectacled owl, and Sitka, a teeny tiny Screech Owl.

#photography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #owls #animals #nature

Spock, a great horned owl at The Raptors bird sanctuary in Duncan, BC.

Two more shots of Spock, a great horned owl— a close up of his head as he calls out to his handler, and a shot of him taking flight, stretching his deceptively wide wings in total silence.

An extreme close up of Elton— a spectacled owl, usually native to Mexico and South America.

Elton— who’s a girl — poses with my sister at The Raptors bird sanctuary in Duncan, BC, on Vancouver Island.

🧵First batch of photos from a recent visit to The Raptors birds-of-prey centre in Duncan, BC.

Here’s Spock, and Elton, a great horned owl and a spectacled owl, respectively.

#wildlifephotography #birdphotography #owls #nature #animals #photography
#vancouverisland #britishcolumbia

A friendly heads-up: I’m going to be posting a pretty gargantuan photo thread of a recent visit to a sanctuary for birds of prey, so if you don’t like raptors, or photography, it might get (more) obnoxious for a while.

Tasha Yar’s Grill & Bar —

Patrons place their order, then are immediately encased in a black hefty bag and drug from the premises.

a close up of an owl 's face looking up at the camera ALT: a close up of an owl 's face looking up at the camera

Ooh! Ooh! Just got my family tickets for an owl encounter at The Raptors on Van Isle next week. I’m EXTREMELY excited. Going to try and limit myself to the mildest of nerd freakouts.

Ruprecht. An adorable male ragdoll cat, named after one of Steve Martin’s characters in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. “May I take your trident, sir?”

Rudy— an equally adorable, but much more reclusive ragdoll kitty. She’s a lady. Named, I think, after a song by The Specials.

Scout— my sister’s gigantic half St. Bernard, half Bernese Mountain Dog. I love her. Here, she’s laying down in some snow.

Scout, my sister’s gigantic dog, cooling off in some snow. She hurt her paw somewhere along the way today and will be visiting the vet tomorrow. :( She’s a big, lovable sweetie.

Spent Christmas visiting my sister’s zoo. The big, sweet cuddly St. Bernard / Bernese Mountain Dog has something wrong with her paw. (boo!) She’s going to the vet tomorrow. Hope she’s okay!
❤️🤞

#pets #animals #kitty #pupper #vancouverisland

Yup. Besides all the bullshit that she was presumably already contending wit, the entire nature of identity, connection, individuality and every other aspect of human existence just changed overnight, literally.

Oh… and her wife died like 90 seconds ago.

And they’re mad she’s grumpy?

Sifting through the #Pluribus hashtag, feeling a mixture of bewilderment and hostility for all the posts whose one and only take is “Carol’s too angry”.

The last few scenes in tonight’s #Pluribus were fantastic. The DHL Doctor guy crushed it. Cast that dude in more stuff.

I avoided all trailers and other media so that I could dive in w/o any foreknowledge, and I’m glad I did.

I had kind of forgotten that Vince Gilligan worked on the X-Files before he made Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, so the premise and tone took me totally by surprise

Can’t wait to see more

So far, #Pluribus is incredibly engaging. Really loving how it seems to be setting itself up to seamlessly move between working as a really intimate character portrait, and a giant, sprawling examination of free will, connection, humanity and all kinds of interesting shit.

Excited about this one.

Thanks so much! It was a really nice shoot. I’d never been there before. Always cool to see and learn new things!

I often find myself missing Colorado, but today I’m just proud of them. So happy they passed a proposition to provide free breakfast and lunch at school, for any kid who needs or wants it.

This is what humans are supposed to do: take care of each other. ❤️

A chinook salmon jumps into the air, barely clearing the white-water as it crashes down Skutz Falls on the Cowichan River.

A chinook salmon jumps over the first step of the fish ladder at Skutz Falls on Vancouver Island.

A chinook salmon extends it's body as it goes airborne, leaping into the oncoming rush of whitewater at Skutz Falls in the Cowichan River.

A little girl and her dog stand out against a backdrop of fall-colored trees as they watch the salmon swim upstream to spawn in the Cowichan River.

Last batch of images from the Chinook Salmon migration at Skutz Falls on Vancouver Island.

#photography #wildlifephotography #nature #marinelife #pnw #raincoast #vancouverisland #britishcolumbia #outdoors #cowichanvalley #cowichanriver #chinook #salmon #fish #heron #bird #landscape

Closeup of a leaping Chinook salmon as it attempts to clear the first step of a fish ladder at Skutz Falls in the Cowichan Valley of Vancouver Island.

Two Chinook salmon forgo the fish ladder and try to go airborn to clear the main falls at Skutz Falls on the Cowichan River.

A photographer finds a perch above the salmon ladder at Skutz Falls.

A great blue heron stands fully upright on a moss-covered rock, searching the Cowichan River for treats.

A few more shots of Skutz Falls and the annual Chinook salmon migration happening in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island.

#photography #wildlifephotography #nature #pnw #raincoast #vancouverisland #britishcolumbia #outdoors #cowichanvalley #cowichanriver #chinook #salmon #fish #heron #landscape