It’s been a long, rainy winter here in the Pacific Northwest, so we haven’t gotten up to Ft. Flagler and Port Townsend this winter. Cloudy skies were predicted, but I decided we would take our chances and go to Port Townsend. I told my grandson I was thinking of heading up there, and he said we should stop and see him at the Firehouse where he has been working for the last couple of years. So, even though it looked a little unpredictable when we got up, I decided I would go anyway. I’m glad we did because the firehouse tour was the highlight of our trip. Luckily, Leslie got pictures of our visit and posted them to her Facebook pages because I was too busy talking and looking to remember to take pictures.
We arrived a little later than usual at Ft. Flagler only to be confronted by some of the coldest temperatures I’ve ever encountered there. To make matters even more interesting, it was also one of the highest tides we have ever seen. If the tide had risen any higher, I don’t think we could have made it to the point, and most of the birds we saw were near the point, all huddled together trying to stay out of the wind.
The first and most common birds we encountered were Sanderlings running up and down the shoreline.
A little further up the beach, we began to run into Black-bellied Plovers still in winter plumage
interspersed with Dunlin, smaller than the Plovers but larger than the Sanderlings.
I didn’t go all the way to the end of the point because the birds were packed in so densely that I didn’t want to disturb them. I did go far enough to get a shot of the Brant that are often found feeding on the seaweed found between the two points.
Naturally, the light improved as we got back to the car, while small, mixed flocks of Plovers and Dunlin ran across the lawn
My favorite birds at Flagler are the Harlequin Ducks, but sadly we only spotted a single pair, and they were too far away to get a decent shot of them.
Reviewing the photos I took, it was probably one of the more disappointing trips we’ve taken to Ft. Flagler, but considering how seldom we managed to get out in the last few months it was a very enjoyable visit. We definitely look forward to getting out more soon.