Sunday’s trip to Theler Wetlands in Belfair was quite different from Saturday’s Port Orchard trip. The clouds had returned and temperatures had dropped remarkably, though not as low as Monday when we actually got some snowflakes here.
I’m not sure whether it was caused by Saturday’s massive turnout of visitors, the extremely high tide, or simply the change in the weather, but birding was quite different from Saturday, too. There were no large flocks of birds, the Great Blue Herons were absent, and even the Canada Geese were strangely silent. It suddenly seemed like winter birding again, a time when you have to pay closer attention to see any birds.
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing because I truly enjoy trying to take pictures of little songbirds, if for no other reason than I find it difficult to do.
I saw a small flock of Golden-Crowned Sparrows, though it was too early to be in full breeding colors yet,
and Song Sparrows hopping from branch to branch hunting insects.
The few ducks I did see had paired off and were foraging close to shore, like this pair of Green-Winged Teal,
and this brave little Northern Pintail that seemed to move to open water to draw me away from his mate.
