Category: Washington Coast

I was reminded several times this weekend that I’m not really a “SERIOUS” birder. While photographing shorebirds at Bottle Beach I asked another birder who’d just come from Westport if the Pelicans were there. Everyone looked at me rather incredulously, His reply was, “There always there.” All I could reply was that they weren’t there the last time I’d been in Westport, which was probably early Spring. The birders were all trying to see the rarely seen Hudsonian Godwit, but they were so far out that I knew I would never get a good shot even if I did see them so I quickly lost interest.

As it turned out, there were only a few pelicans at Westport, or at least only a few that flew by. I managed to get a single shot of a Brown Pelican still in breeding colors.

I was relatively happy with the shot even though it was taken at a considerable distance and wasn’t as good as shots I’d taken last Spring.

A little disappointed, I hoped to see some closer at Tokeland, where I was going to see the Elegant Terns that all the birders had been talking about online. I did manage to see a pair of Elegant Terns through a birder’s spotting scope, but what really caught my attention was a small flock of pelicans floating in the harbor nearby.

So, while all the birders were after the Elegant Terns I was gazing the other direction trying to capture shots of plain old Brown Pelicans circling,

suddenly turning straight towards me,

only to turn and land right where you’d expect, next to the flock resting nearby.

I don’t need to spot rare birds; I never get tired of watching these pterodactyl-like birds just doing what they do.

When I started birding with Ruth Sullivan several years ago, if we hadn’t see many birds she would say, “All we need is one good bird.” After seeing very few birds at Ocean Shores after four hours of walking, I was beginning to remember her saying.

“One good bird” turned out to be a Red-necked Phalarope, and I first saw them at the sewage plant. There were several small flocks all swirling around, chasing insects, so many that it was hard to get a picture without leaving body parts on the edge of the picture,

and I never did manage to get a good shot of a single phalarope no matter how hard I tried.

Strangely enough, several hours later at Westport I spotted a small bird in the distance which turned out to be a single Rednecked Phalarope.

Since I had always seen phalaropes on small ponds, I was surprised to see one on the ocean (though it turns out a little research indicates that they’re more apt to be seen on the ocean than on ponds).

Long after I had given up getting a good shot, I started back the parking lot only to see the bird circling next to the dock and I got some great close-ups,

better than I’ve ever managed to get before. Hey, it made my day. And the day wasn’t even over.

I enjoyed my last trip to the Ocean so much that I headed back almost immediately. This time, though, I began at Oyhut Wildlife Recreation Area not Westport. Unlike my previous trip, though, this one didn’t begin very auspiciously. In fact I walked nearly four miles before sighting a few gulls and ducks on the wetlands. I was a little disappointed, but as usual it just made me look a little harder because it’s nearly impossible to have that many acres without wildlife of some kind.

Sure enough, before long I heard this Savannah Sparrow

claiming his stretch of beach.

Almost back to the car, I noticed what sure looks like a Least Sandpiper,

a bird I seldom see or, at least, one I seldom recognize in a large flock of shorebirds.

The highlight of the morning, though, was the act put on by this Killdeer

who must have had a nest nearby. It led me away from the area by flying in front of me and flashing its brilliantly colored tail.

Of course, if it had simply flown to the side instead of straight in front of me, between me and the car, it wouldn’t have had to display nearly as long. Still, I definitely appreciated the act and I’m sure it thought it had once again saved its small family from disaster.

I returned to my car as happy as if I’d gotten a hundred great shots because for nearly three hours I had been totally immeresed in the refuge and the birds that live there.