Category: Special Places

We reached record temperatures today (98 degrees), so I headed out at 7:00 am for Nisqually, having just read that birds tend to be more active in the morning in hot days. If so, I certainly didn’t find them. I saw very few birds, except for swallows and starlings.

The first shot of the day turned out to be the highlight of the day:

Although this Long-Tailed Weasel seemed more than willing to pose for the camera, he disappeared when two other groups walked by. They probably wondered why I was standing around taking pictures of an empty bench.

On the other hand, this rather large bullfrog looked like he was wondering where his pond had gone:

I hope he found something more soothing than mud before the temperatures really soared.

I didn’t manage a single picture of the real highlight of the day, though. A mink came running directly at me so fast that by the time I pointed my lens at him he was nothing but a blur. After I backed up a few feet, he again came dashing out of the underbrush, nearly brushing my left foot. If I’d had pants instead of shorts on, I swear he would have run up my pant leg.

Despite drinking constantly on the walk out of my Camel Pack, I downed two lime sodas with my Torta at lunch time.

Still I find it hard not to sing the praises of sunshine:

Tuesday’s trip to Nisqually stood out for the intense sunshine and a remarkable lack of photographic opportunities.

Still, it’s hard to complain when a flocks of swallows buzz you on your walk for nearly a mile, constantly displaying their remarkable flying ability. Can you really complain because you can’t get a good shot of Common Terns repeatedly diving into shallow waters to catch Salmon smolt?

Nope. No complaints. Instead, I focused on what I could shoot, like this Pied-Billed Grebe chick whose head seemed nearly as large as the rest of his body

and these four Wood Ducklings, who seemed to have misplaced their mama but still maintained their formation as they scurried away

For much of the day, though, I focused on songbirds whose songs filled the air but who were seldom visible and when they were visible seemed to disappear back into the leaves before auto-focus could focus, which explains why the leaves are sharper than this male Yellow Warbler

which was half a sanctuary away from this female Yellow Warbler who was willing to show herself to make a meal of these caterpillars.

I even captured another picture of the suddenly abundant Goldfinches

I’ll have to admit that once I turned to trying to get a picture of the many songbirds whose songs constantly accompany my walk I found the challenge exciting. For the next few weeks when I’m out birding I’ll be trying to get more shots of these elusive darters.