When the temperature suddenly drops to 28˚ and winds batter house shutters, I turn to my computer, edit last year’s photos.
Suddenly I’m lost in plans for Spring’s trip to Utah’s Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
Month: February 2018
Bonus Birds from Port Townsend
I may go to Port Townsend to see Harlequin Ducks, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see lots of other birds while birding.
During the winter you can count on seeing a flock of Brant
at the end of the spit at Ft. Flagler.
Sometimes while trying to photograph Harlequins you get distracted by nearby birds like this Long-Tailed Duck,
a bird I’ve only seen three times in all the years I’ve birded. In fact I spent nearly seven years looking for one of these before I saw a small flock while crossing Puget Sound on a Ferry.
Luckily, female Red-Breasted Mergansers
are much more common, but still a good find.
But the male Red-Breasted Merganser provides an even better photo-op.
Flagler’s Harlequin Ducks
Regular visitors would probably know after yesterday’s post that photos of Harlequin ducks are bound to follow, and here they are. The main reason I go to Ft. Flagler is to see the Harlequins. Though I can sometimes find them near Port Orchard, I’m almost guaranteed to see them at Flagler.
On this trip, though, I was at the very tip of the spit before I spotted a single male Harlequin, and it was a long ways offshore.
Of course, the waves were so high that there might have been a small flock out there and I wouldn’t have seen them.
When Harlequins are feeding they spend much of their time trolling, looking for a meal,
and they’re barely visible even in calm water.
The best shots come when they’re in the calm side of the spit apparently just hanging out, like this pair that was staying out of the bone-chilling North winds.
Sunshine and calm waters make for elegant profiles of these colorful ducks.
Small Price to Pay
Saturday we got a rare treat — a cloudless, sunny day. To celebrate we headed up to Port Townsend. It was sunny, but seemed almost as cold as Mt. Baker looked across Puget Sound.
The price of sunny days here in the Pacific Northwest is often a strong Eastern wind, with accompanying cold. Even the birds seemed to be seeking shelter from the frigid winds.
Small price to pay for the beautiful golden hour light reflected on this Black-bellied Plover in winter foliage,
on these two Yellowlegs,
and on this rarely seen Western Meadowlark.
