Making Every Hour Count

Last Thursday Skye and I braved the Pacific Northwest rain and managed to get in a short walk before heading back to the warm, dry comfort of my den. I decided it would be a good day to spend trying to archive my photos and clean up my overburdened second hard drive.

At four in the afternoon, though, there was a sudden clearing, and I decided I needed a longer walk, so I headed down to Pt Defiance’s beach. The beach was virtually abandoned because of the rain, but I spent an eventful hour there. It began by spotting these Bald Eagles on a tree above the cliff.

I started to climb the cliff to try to get a better shot of it but thought better of it when I discovered the steep trail was covered in wet leaves .

Luckily I didn’t, because I would have missed this shot of what appears to be a Clark’s Grebe:

my chance to play hide-and-seek with this Kingfisher for the next half hour as he figured out how to stay exactly half the distance of a the boathouse from me and my camera, no matter where I went:

and, finally, this close up of a Giant Blue Heron. I was so close to him that I had to back up in order to get him all in the frame, and he was so intent on the fish within the tank that he totally ignored me the entire time I was there:

Heck, and I didn’t even show you the picture of the harbor seal or the cormorant that came up during the hour and a half I was at the beach.

I’ve walked the shores of Puget Sound for many years without ever seeing as much as I’ve seen in the last three months. It seems the more you open yourself to nature’s wonders the more you see.

Catch of the Day

According to my birding book, Point No Point is “Kitsap County’s destination birding site.�? Unfortunately, my recent trip there might suggest otherwise. Two hours of walking and climbing over driftwood netted me a few gull pictures and this:

Perhaps the pair of Bald Eagles flying overhead explained the lack of birds, but the most memorable moment of the walk came when two large dogs charged me and stood growling and barking at me not much more than two feet away while their owner assured me that they wouldn’t bite, though it was less than comforting knowing they wouldn’t come when he called them.

My trip to the Nature Conservancy’s Foulweather Bluff Reserve wasn’t any more rewarding, birdwise. My photography was limited to some interesting shells:

and this oddity:

It may be a starfish, but, if so, it has more arms than any starfish I’ve ever seen. Still, after twenty-some years of contributing to The Nature Conservancy it was nice to actually visit one of the places I’d helped preserve, even if all I saw was a Great Blue Heron and a flock of Mallards off in the distance.

The catch of the day, though, came at Theler Wetlands where I enjoyed visiting with Butch who spotted this Ringed-Necked Pheasant I’ve seen at a distance several times but never managed to get close to. Today he was so busy eating grain someone had left on the trail that he didn’t look up until I had gotten so close that my telephoto lens could only get a head shot:

He’s no Kingfisher, but he was beautiful. Just seeing him up close made my day. Probably time to admit that I’m easy.

Birding Port Townsend

The best part of birding has been that it has made me search out new places. For instance, last Sunday we headed out for Fort Lagler and Fort Worden, both near Port Townsend. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to find out that they were rather large forts during WWII and contained major artillery emplacements. I was surprised to discover that there’s still a major Naval installation located nearby and spent considerable time speculating what the Navy could be doing on such a large island. However, Leslie wouldn’t let me drive up to the front gate and see if we could get in, especially since my hair is nearly pony-tail length again.

Most of the time, though, was spent watching ducks I’ve never seen before. In fact I spotted this flock of Buffleheads next to the road before we got to either park and insisted on stopping beside the narrow road as cars roared by. Unfortunately, they were wise enough to stay off shore and move further off shore whenever I pointed my camera their way. Sadly, it turns out that white heads are rather difficult to expose correctly:

At Fort Lagler, I discovered this Green-Winged Teal floating in a small lagoon formed by a WW II firing range:

My favorite picture of the day, though, is of this Harlequin duck, which breeds in river streams but spends the winter on coastal waters:

Delighted by the sightings but tired from walking and being buffeted by the strong winds of an incoming storm, we retreated to Port Townsend to visit art galleries and discover some delightful art by
Marvin Oliver and particularly by
Donna Caulton Unfortunately after my recent purchase of cameras and lenses, I was limited to purchasing note cards and eating out at one of Port Townsend’s fine restaurants.

On the way out of town, we took the advice of the excellent A Birder’s Guide to Washington and stopped at a small city park called Kah Tai Lagoon, and spotted this pair of, what we think are, Eurasian Wigeons:

I’m still amazed to discover birds I had no idea existed in places I’d never visited less than fifty miles away from my birthplace. Thank goodness I’ve seen less than half of the ducks that are supposed to be seen locally so I have reasons to continue to be amazed.

I used to take pride in how many places in the state I’d hiked and other people hadn’t even heard of, but it’s a little humbling to realize just how much of the state I really don’t know and haven’t experienced.