Subverting the System

We woke to snow-dusted cars and heavy clouds again yesterday. But just before noon, the clouds miraculously cleared, and the sun suddenly appeared. I knew there wasn’t time to actually drive anywhere, since the sun would probably have disappeared before I could get there.

So I simply drove the short distance to Owen Beach to get pictures. There weren’t a lot of birds, certainly not a one I haven’t gotten shots of before, but I’d be a fool to complain about walking the beach on a sunny, crisp winter day.

This Horned Grebe in its non-breeding colors was the first grebe I spotted.

Non-Breeding Horned Grebe

Later I spotted a larger Red-Necked Grebe, also in non-breeding colors, further out.

Non-Breeding Red-Necked Grebe

But the best shot of the day was of this pair of Common Goldeneye.

Pair Of Common Goldeneye

The day was only slightly marred by my brief encounter with a coast guard craft that was passing by but swung about and came over and “questioned me,” at least that’s the way the lady walking on the shore and I interpreted their actions.

Hey, I wasn’t even wearing my usual camouflage jacket, just carrying my Canon 400mm lens. They were actually quite pleasant, though the sight of the .762 machine gun mounted on the front of the boat and the flashing blue lights proved slightly unnerving. Apparently birding is more subversive than I was originally led to believe.

I would have liked to get a picture of the boat but decided I wouldn’t push my luck by training my camera on their boat as they left.