Month: May 2013

One Good Bird

When I started birding with Ruth Sullivan several years ago, if we hadn’t see many birds she would say, “All we need is one good bird.” After seeing very few birds at Ocean Shores after four hours of walking, I was beginning to remember her saying.

“One good bird” turned out to be a Red-necked Phalarope, and I first saw them at the sewage plant. There were several small flocks all swirling around, chasing insects, so many that it was hard to get a picture without leaving body parts on the edge of the picture,

Red-necked Phalaropes

and I never did manage to get a good shot of a single phalarope no matter how hard I tried.

Strangely enough, several hours later at Westport I spotted a small bird in the distance which turned out to be a single Rednecked Phalarope.

Red-necked Phalarope

Since I had always seen phalaropes on small ponds, I was surprised to see one on the ocean (though it turns out a little research indicates that they’re more apt to be seen on the ocean than on ponds).

Long after I had given up getting a good shot, I started back the parking lot only to see the bird circling next to the dock and I got some great close-ups,

Red-necked Phalarope

better than I’ve ever managed to get before. Hey, it made my day. And the day wasn’t even over.

Sometimes It’s the Little Things

I enjoyed my last trip to the Ocean so much that I headed back almost immediately. This time, though, I began at Oyhut Wildlife Recreation Area not Westport. Unlike my previous trip, though, this one didn’t begin very auspiciously. In fact I walked nearly four miles before sighting a few gulls and ducks on the wetlands. I was a little disappointed, but as usual it just made me look a little harder because it’s nearly impossible to have that many acres without wildlife of some kind.

Sure enough, before long I heard this Savannah Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

claiming his stretch of beach.

Almost back to the car, I noticed what sure looks like a Least Sandpiper,

Least Sandpiper

a bird I seldom see or, at least, one I seldom recognize in a large flock of shorebirds.

The highlight of the morning, though, was the act put on by this Killdeer

Killdeer

who must have had a nest nearby. It led me away from the area by flying in front of me and flashing its brilliantly colored tail.

Killdeer distraction

Of course, if it had simply flown to the side instead of straight in front of me, between me and the car, it wouldn’t have had to display nearly as long. Still, I definitely appreciated the act and I’m sure it thought it had once again saved its small family from disaster.

I returned to my car as happy as if I’d gotten a hundred great shots because for nearly three hours I had been totally immeresed in the refuge and the birds that live there.

Action Shots for a Change

Although I think birds are best shown while in flight, most of my shots tend to show them floating in water or sitting on a branch because that’s how you usually see them and, equally important, because the light here in the Pacific Northwest often doesn’t allow good action shots. If you push the ISO up high enough to freeze the bird in flight, the grain is awful, not to mention the problem of getting the correct exposure of the bird when you’re shooting against the sky. Nevertheless, when it gets as sunny as it has been around here the last two weeks I crank up the shutter speed and try to get as many action shots as I can.

A highlight of a recent trip to Theler Wetlands was watching a pair of Red-Tailed Hawks that appeared to be courting, spiraling up, then diving past each other.

Red-Tailed Hawk Courtship

Unfortunately, they did this with the sun directly behind them, making it impossible to capture their spectacular dives in any detail.

Luckily, this pair of Canada Geese were more accommodating,

Canada Geese

flying directly in front of us with the sun coming over my shoulder, as did this flock of male and female Common Mergansers

Common Mergansers

that came roaring up the river.

The next day I was at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge by the pond taking pictures of a female Hooded Merganser in shaded pond when she bolted.

female Hooded Merganser

Because I was panning with her, parts of the picture are clear while other parts are blurred. It’s amazing to me that the drops of water are quite sharp while the wing tips are blurred. Of course, most of the picture is actually clearer than I saw it with my own eyes. Personally, I think the blurriness is an asset, emphasizing the bird’s speed.

Later in the day, I caught this shot of an Osprey hovering above McAllister Creek.

Osprey

It’s not quite as thrilling as a shot of an osprey catching a fish, but I love seeing birds hover like this.

Spring Shorebird Migration

My recent trip to Bottle Beach had to be the highlight of my year so far. As always, I was mesmerized by the synchronized anarchy of waves of shorebirds flashing up and down the shoreline,

shorebirds in flight

suddenly dropping into their place on the beach,

Spring Shorebird migration

Short-Billed Dowitchers wading at water’s edge,

Short-Billed Dowitchers

Dunlins probing the sand

Dunlin

ahead of the incoming tide,

Dunlin

Western Sandpipers skittering here, there,

Western Sandpiper

everywhere, surrounding.

Western Sandpiper

Invisible, surrounded by hundreds of small birds I feel strangely alive, connected.