Month: April 2014

A Beautiful Transformation

Although I was disappointed that had to delay my trip to Malheur for a week, I was glad that I got another week to photograph the Horned Grebes at Port Orchard because I’ve watched them change plumage the last few weeks.

I was so amazed when I saw the transformation a few years ago, that watching them change has become a rite of Spring for me. In the winter they’re a rather nondescript little gray and white bird, one of the smaller members of the grebe family.

Horned Grebe, winter plumage

Come Spring, though, and they transform into a remarkably striking bird that makes it clear why they were name the Horned grebe. It seems to take three to four weeks to change from their winter plumage to their breeding plumage.

Horned Grebe intermediate plumage

Until they complete the transformation, they can look quite motley and judging from the amount of preening they do, it can be quite irritating.

Horned Grebe intermediate plumage

The result certainly justifies whatever discomfort the change might entail.

Horned Grebe breeding plumage

Horned Grebe breeding plumage

I’m not sure the transformation is quite complete, but I doubt that they will still be around when I return in a week. They seem to leave for their nesting area almost immediately after the change so I only have a short amount of time to enjoy them.

Another Sunny Day

I’ve been trying to plan a trip to Malheur for a couple of weeks now but I’ve been frustrated by the low temperatures, not to mention the snow and freezing rain. C’mon, they’ve had a drought all year. Why does the rain and sleet show up just when I want to visit? There’s been lots of rain here, too; those days I work out at the Y. Still, when it’s sunny I’m not about to spend my time walking around in circles in a building.

My go-to place has been Theler Wetlands and Port Orchard most of this winter, and I manage to always find something that makes even a poor-birding day a good day — it just means I have to look a little harder. On my last trip I noticed that some of the red-purple flowers are starting to join the Skunk Cabbage and Trillium in celebrating Spring’s arrival.

flower

They’re not very spectacular, but they certainly stand out in the shaded forest where they grow.

These low-growing purple flowers would probably be overlooked by pollinators mid-summer, but they stand out now.

different flowers

Even on days when you’re struggling to get pictures of anything new, you occasionally see something that makes your day. On this day, it was my first-ever sighting of the river otters that frequent Theler.

river otters

I’ve long observed their scat and their slides on the riverbank, but I’ve never actually seen them before. It was a quite a treat to watch them scampering in the river.

I would have been happy with just that sighting, but I wasn’t displeased when this little Song Sparrow sang his heart out in search of a mate or staking a claim to his section of the reeds.

Song Sparrow

Even though the Tree Swallows still haven’t appeared in large numbers and aren’t showing up on the boardwalk as they have in past years, I did manage to get quite close to this one before it flew off.

Tree Swallow

I still feel blessed every time I’m able to walk the boardwalk with swallows feet away, others whizzing around me, so close I feel I should duck, but never have to. I would come to Theler just for that experience.

A Good Morning at Theler

You know it’s going to be a good walk when you’re greeted at the beginning by an oft-heard, but seldom-seen Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpecker

at the visitor’s center that is so accommodating it not only announces its presence but lands low enough to the ground that you are looking down at it, not up, though it would’ve been unreasonably demanding to ask it to move to a sunnier location.

Not too much further down the trail a Spotted Towhee

Spotted Towhee

was cooperative enough to actually fly up to a tree instead of hopping into the brush so that I could get a low-angle shot for a change.

This Great Blue Heron startled me when it flew past and landed in the top of a tree

Great Blue Heron in tree top

rather landing in its customary nearby wetlands.

My walk ended on a high note, literally, when this Marsh Wren

Marsh Wren

clearly claimed the reeds next to the boardwalk that leads out to the Sound. I got some of the best shots I’ve ever gotten of a Marsh Wren here last Spring, but this is the first time I’ve spotted, or heard him, this year.