As much as I pride myself in living in the moment since I retired, refusing to make too many commitments because I want the freedom to get up and go when I feel like it, I’m amused by the ruts I find myself in. I spent a good part of today, for instance, at my usual 6:30-8:30 YMCA workout, my half hour walk with Skye, and my monthly volunteer work for the Tahoma Audubon Society.
As a result, today’s entry is a continuation of yesterday’s Belfair trip. Ever since I accidentally discovered how many birds can be seen on the Port Orchard Docks, I complete the Belfair trip with a trip to the dock and to my favorite lunch destination.
This is the first time I’ve seen so many Horned Grebes gathered at the dock in a long time. I can hardly wait until they begin to don their breeding colors.
Though most of the birds aren’t afraid of people, or they wouldn’t be in such a heavily traveled area, almost invariably they will start to paddle away like this
when you point the camera at them, which is why I think this might be my favorite shot of the day. I can’t remember ever getting a head-on shot of a Barrow’s Goldeneye like this one,
though I was also fond of this shot showing both a male and female Barrow’s Goldeneye.
I’m always a little amazed how different the males and females of a species can look.