Category: Theler Wetlands

Fickle

I sometimes think what I love most about Nature is its sheer unpredictability.

I went to Belfair hoping to see Green Herons, and, although I saw one just as we started our walk, it flew away quickly as we approached. All I could do was catch this quick shot:

Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure it was a green heron until I got the picture home and put it on screen. Although we searched for it throughout our walk, we never saw it again. I’ll probably have to spend the rest of the summer trying to get a good shot of one.

Delightfully, the highlight of the walk turned out to be the swallows.
I suspect it’s impossible to get a shot of a swallow flying without resorting to a movie camera, and until Sunday I’ve never managed to get a decent shot of one as they usually seem shy. So was quite happy to get this shot of a VioletGreen Swallow perched on a nearby fence.

I assumed all the swallows diving over and under us as we walked the boardwalk were the same species, so I was a little surprised when I looked through the viewfinder and realized this was an entirely different species,

a Barn Swallow.

The best picture of the day, though, has to be this one of a Tree Swallow who posed about two feet away for a whole series of photos:

At the risk of sounding fickle, I will admit that I spent much of the walk adoring these fearless daredevils, having totally forgotten the slow-moving heron for the moment.

Variations On a Theme

Birds seemed scarce at Belfair Saturday, but a large number of Red-Winged Blackbirds seemed to be holding a spring musical festival.

There were hundreds of male Red-Winged Blackbirds, all apparently trying to sing louder than their competitors.

Some were perched on cattails singing loudly

Others serenaded us from branches hanging over the pond:

While others showered us with music from above:

They sang so beautifully, I could almost believe they were singing for us.

Just Another Sunday

Sunday began with breakfast with a local poet where we discussed Billy Collin’s poetry and, after a walk through Wright Park, agreed to re-read the Tao Teh Ching for our next breakfast.

Still, it proved a rather unremarkable day. Unable to agree on a movie, Leslie and I settled for a short trip to Belfair, despite the cool, overcast weather.

Though it was a pleasant enough three and half mile walk, we did not see a single new bird or animal and had to settle for:

a fleeing muskrat

just another cormorant on a log

more Canadian Geese landing

a Northern Harrier perched on a distant fence pole

yet another glimpse of a Great Blue Heron in a slough.

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.