Category: Theler Wetlands

Just Another Nice Day

It’s definitely Spring here in the PNW. After three days of steady rain, it was sunny and windy today. So once again, Leslie and I headed out to Belfair where this Great Blue Heron landed right off the trail:

It’s easy to forget how big they really are when you see them hunting, but there’s no ignoring their size when you see them head-on with their wings spread out.

I was so busy looking for birds that I was a little taken aback when I suddenly stared this native red squirrel right in the eyes:

I was also a little surprised to find Trillium blooming in the woods next to the trail since I usually associate them with the mountains, not wetlands:

I was even more surprised to learn that Monday is supposed to be the sunniest day so far. Hopefully I’ll get some good pictures at Fort Lagler.

It Could Be!

Spring that is!

I headed out to Belfair today when it appeared that the morning sunshine would extend throughout the day.

The gardens at Theyler Wetlands greeted us with the surest sign of spring. Daffodils busting out everywhere.

And we didn’t have to walk too far down the path before we encountered this male Red-Wing Blackbird willing to defend his territory from all comers.

And just before it started to rain and hail, we were greeted by a flock of Northern Pintails all dressed up in their Spring best:

Sunday at Belfair

Despite the emerging crocus in the front garden, it’s not quite spring here in the Pacific Northwest. Our low temperatures here and heavy snowfall in the mountains Thursday inspired us to go cross country skiing Saturday, but we were met with a steady rainfall when we actually got up to the ski area. Needless to say, we turned around and came home just in time to watch the Huskies defeat UCLA.

When it appeared somewhat sunnier this morning, we headed out to Belfair, determined to get some exercise this weekend. When we got there, Leslie was shocked to see that all of last year’s grass and reeds had been knocked flat. Still, there were signs that winter is gradually fading, both in the emerging green vegetation and in the return of the Red Wing Blackbirds.

Although it was impossible to ignore the male’s calls, I found it equally impossible to ignore this bold little lass who refused to be intimidated by my 400 mm lens, though it’s nearly impossible to get a decent shot of one once they’ve built their nest.

We were also greeted by flocks of bold Golden-Crowned Sparrows:

Most of the birds we saw were sporting muted colors, though a few like this male Green-Winged Teal seemed willing to break out enough colors to attract females:

Foggy

When I headed at 8:30 out from Tacoma with Bob to show him the Olympics from Seabeck it was bright and sunny here. On our way there, we constantly went from sunshine to heavy fog. When we arrived at Seabeck, the fog had partially lifted but still managed to obscure most of the Olympics.

Since it was foggy and COLD, we decided not to try to outlast the fog but, instead, head to Belfair and the Theler Wetlands. Much to my surprise it was much foggier at Belfair. Although many birds were much closer than I’ve ever seen them before, like this Kingfisher,

it was nearly impossible to make the camera focus without shifting to manual focus. And even if you could focus the camera, the resulting picture was little more than a gray-on-gray abstract.

We had nearly reached the turnaround point on the trail before the sun finally broke out, at least in patches and I was able to get some decent pictures, like this one of a pair of Green-Winged Teals, by far the best shot I’ve managed to get so far of this particular species.