Although I enjoyed seeing all the shorebirds in breeding plumage, the “Bird of the Day” had to be the Whimbrels we saw. They were the largest of the shorebirds, nearly 6 inches taller than the Short-billed Dowitcher.
When I saw something flying in the distance, I took this shot hoping to identify what I was seeing. I’ll have to admit I wasn’t entirely sure what I had seen until I got home and put the shot up on the screen. Considering their size, they blended into the background better than I would ever have thought imaginable.
Whimbrels on the rocky coast
When I saw this one flying by, the long, curved bill made it clear that it was a small flock of Whimbrels I had seen on the rocky shore.
Flying Whimbrel
Later on, the birds seemed to accept us as part of the scenery, and I was able to get closer than I ever have before. They were fixated on finding enough food to continue their migration, far too busy to be distracted by people with cameras.
Whimbrel foraging on the beach
This shot of one Tai Chi walking was my favorite of the day.
Surprisingly, we saw even more Whimbrels later in the day when we visited North Beach.
I think I ended up seeing more Whimbrels in one day than I’ve seen in the rest of my life.
When it comes to camouflage, the Dunlin’s breeding plumage is nearly as good as the Black-Bellied Plover. Though it’s not nearly as distinctive, its black belly and spangled back, made it hard enough to see that my auto-focus ended up focusing on the barnacled rocks rather than on the Dunlin.
Dunlin in breeding plumage
Luckily, its habit of wading out into the water to feed makes it easier to get a good photo.
Dunlin
Although the Short-Billed Dowitcher has the same spangled back as the Black-Bellied Plover and the Dunlin, its rusty breast and long beak clearly set it apart from those two.
Short-billed Dowitcher
Although they’re called Short-billed Dowitcher, their bill is much longer than most shorebirds, and watching them feed made me wonder what the heck they were eating.
According to the Cornell Lab All About Birds: “Short-billed Dowitchers restlessly probe muddy substrates with the bill held vertically, in search of buried invertebrate, especially marine worms, mollusks (small clams), crustaceans (fiddler crab, shrimp), and isopods and amphipods of various kinds. … When they detect prey beneath the mud, dowitchers consume it immediately with the exception of larger worms, which they pull from the burrow and consume above the water.”
I knew we would be in Colorado during the height of the Spring Shorebird Migration, so I hoped to see the early birds when Leslie and I went to Fort Flagler on April 25th. I wasn’t disappointed, either. Though there weren’t nearly as many birds as I’m used to seeing at Bottle Beach on the Washington coast, there were still large numbers of birds, more than enough to get good photos of several different species.
Black-bellied Plovers are definitely one of my favorite shorebirds to photograph. Their breeding plumage is spectacular, especially since their winter plumage is a subtle grayish brown. The striking black face, breast, and belly distinguish it from other shorebirds.
Black-bellied Plover
Since the breeding plumage is so distinctive, I’ve always thought it was just a means of attracting a mate, so I was surprised at how well the breeding plumage blended into their coastal habitat. In fact, they blended in so well that it was often difficult to see them unless they took off as you got close or you saw where they landed after flying away.
Black-bellied Plover next to barnacle-covered rocks
The camouflage on the back, obvious in this shot, would also lessen the risk of falling prey to raptors as they hunted for food on the shoreline.
Though I was surprised when I first saw how the spangled upper feathers blended in with the barnacle-covered rocks, I was almost equally surprised that the plover also blended in well when seen at eye level.
Wilson Snipes may be better camouflaged than Black-bellied Plovers and male Wood Ducks may be more beautiful, but I don’t know any bird that combines beauty and camouflage better.
If the sun is out and you’ve just returned from a two-week vacation with literally thousands of photos waiting to be scanned and edited, what do you do? If you stay home you’ll feel obligated to spend the day at the computer processing pictures and trying to figure out what you want to say about them. If you’re Loren and the sun is shining, instead, you head out to Ocean Shores and Westport to see if the loons have changed into breeding plumage and if Spring Migration has started.
You can never have too many great pictures, right? As it turned out, though, I didn’t add nearly as many photos to my collection as I had hoped to add. It was sunny at the beach, but when I stopped at Ocean Shores the wind was so strong that I could barely open my door. I. quickly decided we would go to Westport instead of walking the beach looking for birds that wouldn’t be there. Birding is usually miserable when there are high winds, and I didn’t want to take the chance of blowing sand damaging an expensive lens.
The drive wasn’t in vain, though, as we stopped at our favorite art galley in Ocean Shores where I bought two photographs from a local artist I had admired for several years.
The winds hadn’t died down much when we reached Westport so we had lunch and hoped for the best. The fish and chips on Blue Buoy’s smaller portion menu for older folks was delightful as usual.
After lunch we drove down to the marina where we were greeted by this Common Loon that had not fully transitioned to its breeding plumage — not the look I was hoping for.
Common Loon in transitional plumage
We tried to walk out the jetty but the winds were so high that I lost my hat, even though my ponytail was braided through the back. The only birds we saw out there were gulls that seemed to be enjoying riding the high winds.
My favorite shot of the day was probably this one of a small Coast Guard boat cutting through the choppy waves.
My favorite bird shot of the day was this one of a Clark’s Grebe that approached as we walked through the marina back to our car.
Clark’s Grebe
I did get a shot of a Common Loon in full-breeding plumage at Tokeland, but naturally, he wasn’t nearly as cooperative as the one we saw at Westport. This shot was heavily cropped and adjusted in Photoshop to bring out the green band on his neck.
Common Loon in breeding plumage
Having lived in rain-soaked Aberdeen for almost a year, a sunny day at the beach is always a good day, birds or no birds, and I definitely enjoyed avoiding my computer for another day.
