Month: January 2012

Red-Breasted Mergansers

If you’re a regular visitor, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve posted several pictures of red breasted mergansers. Perhaps because it’s a bird I’ve only seen occasionally, I’ve focused in on it this year.

I began to notice their arrival about three weeks ago on Ruston Way. About two weeks ago I spotted one on my way to Port Orchard. I managed to get what I thought was a couple of pretty good shots when I was at Fort Flagler.

Although I’ve never seen them in the Port Orchard marina before, there were several there when I was there on the 12th. I really like this shot of what I think is a female Red-Breasted Merganser.

female Red-Breasted Merganser

This shot, though, makes me question any identification as male or female at this time of year.

three mergansers in different stages of breeding plumage

I’m sure all three of these birds are male mergansers, and I’m positive the one in the front is. However, the two in the back definitely shows signs of male plumage, and they look remarkably similar to female plumage.

My favorite shot of the week, a week full of shots I really liked, is this one of the male merganser taking off.

merganser taking off

This certainly seems like the climax of a long period of trying to get a good shot of a Red-Breasted Merganser. I’m not sure how I can trump it in the future.

Getting My Priorities Straight

I often tell people I’m not a birder, that I’m a nature photographer. However, thinking about today’s blog entry made me realize I’m not really a photographer either. No, I’m an experiencer.

Although I am aware by now that I often get my best pictures at Port Orchard, I always set out to walk Theler wetlands, not go to Port Orchard. In fact, all the photographs from the trip end up in a folder called Theler Wetlands.

I managed to get this picture of four Hooded Mergansers at Theler, but they were so far away that it was impossible to get a great shot.

two pairs of Hooded Mergansers

However, when I got to the Port Orchard Marina I immediately spotted this pair of hoarded mergansers,

pair of Hooded Mergansers

and got a far better shot than I’ve ever managed to get at Theler.

I didn’t have to go very far to get an even better shot of this female Hooded Merganser.

female Hooded Merganser

On the other side of the dock I got what might well be the best shot of a Hooded Merganser I’ve ever gotten.

Male Hooded Merganser

It’s clear to me that if my main priority was simply to get good photographs I would take my 500 mm lens and tripod and set up in the Port Orchard marina. That’s never going to happen. I really can’t imagine going to Port Orchard without first walking the 3 to 4 miles of trails at Theler, and I’m not going to carry my 500 mm lens and tripod all that way.

If I had to choose between an enjoyable walk and great photographs I’d choose the enjoyable walk every time. Of course, it was the five-mile walk at Nisqually that inspired me to buy photograph equipment so I could get pictures of birds.

Luckily, for me, it’s not an either/or choice. It’s the whole experience, including getting pictures, that inspires me.

A Sunny, Winter Day at Theler

Last week was one of the best weeks, weather-wise, I’ve seen since summer. After being stuck in the house most of this week because of inclement weather, I realized just how lucky I was. I went out birding/walking five straight days in a row.

The day after I got back from Fort Flagler, I went birding at Belfair because I couldn’t resist the sunshine. With hunting season still on, I didn’t see a lot of ducks there but there were a lot of songbirds.

I was greeted at the beginning of the walk by this male house finch

male house finch

who’d obviously fluffed up his feathers to protect himself from the cold

As I walked past the pond, song sparrows were flying back and forth like this little guy

Song Sparrow

who amazed me when he didn’t sink to the ground after landing on the dead grass lining the pond.

With gun shots echoing across to reserve, I wasn’t surprised that I didn’t see any ducks or even Canada geese, but on the way back I spied this Bewick Wren darting in and out of the under brush.

Bewich Wren

Although I can’t remember seeing a Bewick’s Wren more than once or twice before in the six years I’ve birded Theler, I’ve seen them repeatedly this winter

There was also a small flock of Golden- Crowned Sparrows in the same area and I managed to get several shots I liked.

Golden-Crowned Sparrow

They were really chowing down on the newly emerging leaves. I wonder how they’re faring this week with 14 inches of snow covering the ground!

As I was about to leave the preserve, a woman stopped and asked me if I’d gotten a picture of the Bald Eagle. She even wanted to go back and show me where she’d seen it, but I told her if it was still there I should be able to spot it (since it is such a big bird).

Bald Eagle

Sure enough, there it was sitting back at the center watching over the preserve, probably another reason I didn’t see any ducks.

Flagler and Beyond

As you can probably tell him from the number of pictures I featured from my Fort Flagler trip, it was probably my favorite birding trip of the fall/winter season. Not only did I get pictures of the Harlequin ducks I had gone for, but I also saw a number of birds I never expected to see.

For instance, this common loon popped up out of nowhere while I was trying to get a picture of a Bufflehead and stuck around until I got a number of shots.

Common Loon in non-breeding colors

When it dove and surfaced a considerable distance away, I walked out on the dock to see if I could get another good shot. Instead, I ended up talking to a gentleman who is working on his boat. He gave me some hints on wildlife to look for and pointed out a river otter at the end of the dock. Sure enough, when I looked at the end of the dock I saw a small river otter, probably a young otter, stretched out sunning himself.

Otter sunning on dock

Unlike most River otters I’ve seen in the past, this one didn’t seem camera-shy at all. In fact, it worried me that he didn’t seem at all shy of humans, not a good trait to have when a lot of boat owners see them as nuisances.

I would have been elated if those had been the only shots I’d gotten on the entire trip, but as I was leaving the marina I spotted a small flock of male Red breasted mergansers, a bird I’d been trying to photograph for several weeks now.

male Red-Breasted Merganser

It was impossible to get very close, but this shot was surely the best shot I had gotten so far this year.

Unfortunately, Point Wilson wasn’t as rewarding as it has often been in the past. I spent nearly an hour, and saw nothing but a few bufflehead and cormorants. Still, as I drove out I noticed some birds by the research marina and felt lucky to get several shots of this Pigeon Guillemot in non-breeding colors.

non-breeding Pigeon Guillemot

At first I thought I’d gotten a picture of a murre or murrelet. It was only when I got home and looked at my birding book that I realized it was a Pigeon Guillemot, a picture I’ve never managed to get before, though I have several pictures of them in breeding colors.