Category: Washington Coast

Common Loons at Wesport

My disappointment that I had cut my Malheur trip short was short-lived because after a day at home unpacking the car, I spent a long Friday at Westport and, later, at Bottle Beach observing the shorebirds Spring migration. Usually I go to Westport after Bottle Beach, but with a 6:00 PM high tide, I reversed my usual pattern.

Westport is my favorite place to observe Common Loons because it’s one of the few places where I can get close enough to get really good photographs. Of course, it’s usually the loons not in breeding colors that are the easiest to get shots of, and Friday was no exception. This loon was waiting for me right off the dock when I entered the marina:

Common Loon in non-breeding plumage

On my walk out to the end of the jetty, the only loon I saw in breeding colors was quite far out:

Common Loon in the Distance

I was beginning to think that the long walk out to the end of the jetty was a waste of time especially since there wasn’t a Brown Pelican in sight. On the way back, though, an Osprey flew over me,

Osprey

and the long walk seemed worthwhile.

On my return, one of the Common Loons in breeding colors had moved closer to the dock and was apparently preening and taking his mid-morning bath,

Loon Bathing

or at least that is how I interpreted it, though there might also have been some showing off for other loons because I didn’t see a mate during the thirty or so minutes I was watching, and this looked a lot more like displaying than washing.

Common Loon in breeding colors

It’s easy to forget how big these birds really are, especially since you seldom see them with their wings spread out like this,

Common Loon in breeding colors

but unfortunately I wasn’t able to fit its entire 4 foot wingspan into the frame.

I was pretty sure that the loon wasn’t showing off for me, but when it finished its morning ritual, it turned and slowly glided past the dock. For a moment I wondered who was watching whom.

Common Loon in breeding colors

A perfect prelude to the rest of the day.

A Quick Trip to Westport

Things have been positively hectic around here lately. I’ve been dropping off and picking up Lael for school which has totally altered my schedule. I’ve really enjoyed the chance to see her regularly, but I’ve had to push my gym workout to after I drop off rather than starting at 6:30. That’s segmented my day so I’m not getting as much done as usual. Worst of all, I haven’t been able to fit in any long day trips, not that there’s been many opportunities with all the rain we’ve been having.

So when last Friday opened up and it was sunny at the beach I was out of here very early in the morning. I headed straight to Westport, hoping to get some shots of Common Loons in breeding colors. Apparently, though, it’s too early for breeding plumage. I got several closeup shots, like this one,

Common Loon

but there weren’t any in breeding colors yet.

I also got some nice shots of this lone Western Grebe

Western Grebe

right outside the harbor.

I even got a nice shot of a Great Blue Heron, something I don’t usually see at Westport.

Great Blue Heron

What I didn’t see, though, were the Pelicans and Pigeon Guillemots I go to see there, not a one. The Godwits weren’t to be found at Tokeland, either. And all I saw at Bottle Beach was a small flock of Dunlin. Guess I haven’t missed much by not getting out there. Apparently Spring migration hasn’t begun yet; I’ll just have to show a little more patience.

The First Time is Always the Best

While taking pictures of the Red-Breasted Mergansers on Saturday a week ago I started a conversation with two birders. Like most birders they were friendly and eager to share what they knew of the area. Somewhere along the way I mentioned that the bird I really wanted to see, one I had been looking for for over five years, was the Long-Tailed Duck. They replied that they had actually seen a small flock awhile before and searched for it with their binoculars. I’m pretty sure I would never have located them without their direction, but I was able to get a distant shot.

It wasn’t much of a shot,

Long-Tailed Ducks

but those are definitely Long-Tailed Ducks, and since this was the only shot I’ve ever gotten I was elated to get it (but determined to get a better shot now that I’d finally seen them)!

During our visit to the post museum we’d learned there was a third fort, Fort Casey, on Whidbey Island that we’d never seen and Leslie wanted to visit. So when sunshine was predicted Sunday we decided to drive up there and take the ferry back to Port Townsend to complete the loop. Personally, I wasn’t too interested in visiting another fort (I’d already seen more forts than I ever wanted to see while I served in the Army), but I thought riding the ferry across the Sound might give me a chance to get a close-up of those silly Long-Tailed Ducks that were always so far from the shore.

We ended up seeing far fewer birds than I imagined we would, and most of them were so far away that I was ready to accept the only shot I was going to manage to get was this shot of a Common Murre in its non-breeding plumage.

Common Murre in its non-breeding plumage

I’ve actually managed to get shots of them at the Fort Worden Lighthouse before, but this was the closest shot I’ve ever managed to get. It’s still too far away to capture fine details, but it’s a pretty good silhouette shot.

The last shot I got on the ferry, though, was this shot of a lone Long-Tailed Duck flying across the bow of the ferry.

Long-Tailed Duck flying

Again, it’s further away than I like, but it was a definite improvement over the shot taken the week before. I would have been happy if that had been only the shot I got Sunday.

As sometimes happens, though, once you have spotted a bird you suddenly see more of them. We were about to end our trip to Ft. Worden after visiting the gun emplacements when I said I wanted to make a quick stop at the education center to see what birds were there. It was 4:00 PM and it was getting dark and there wasn’t much to be seen, until I noticed this bird diving next to a pair of Grebes.

Long-Tailed Duck

Even though the light was less than perfect, this bird was much closer than I’ve ever seen a Long-Tailed Duck before. Even though it didn’t have long tail feathers, it was definitely a Long-Tailed Duck. It seemed like the perfect end to the day.

Imagine

When people ask me if I’m a “birder” I usually reply, “No, though I really like to photograph birds.” Occasionally I say “Yes, but not a serious one.” I don’t maintain a lifetime list, though I generally know (and, yes, even get excited!) when I see a bird I’ve never seen before. I don’t chase birds, though. Even though I follow a local birders’ list, I’ve never gone anywhere just to see a particular bird. I am, however, likely to go back to visit a spot I like if there has been an unusual bird sighted there.

It seems strange to say I go to Ft. Flagler to see the Harlequin ducks. But I do go to see the Harlequin Ducks, and I go to some lengths to find them. I’m even downright unhappy if I don’t find them. I’m happier if I can get some good photos of them, but I’m satisfied if I see them even though the shots don’t turn out.

It’s a real bonus when I get to see shorebirds there. But the truth is I go to Ft. Flagler to see Ft. Flagler, and I’d probably go there regularly even if there were no Harlequins there. I know several places considerably closer where I can see Harlequin Ducks regularly, and I never go there. The birds we see are definitely part of why I go there, but I’d probably love walking on that beach if I had never taken up “birding.” There’s something calming about walking by the Sound, and It’s particularly beautiful looking across Puget Sound at the Cascades. The Old Growth Forest, despite the gun emplacements, gives a sense of what it must have been like here when the first settlers came. In recent years, though, I’ve begun to see the area for the rich habitat it provides for wintering birds, something I would never have been aware of before I started birding.

As it is, I start watching for birds long before I get to Ft. Flagler, making it a point to stop at several places on the way. Last Saturday the first shot I took was of a small flock of Northern Pintails right beside the road about five miles before the park.

male Northern Pintail

This shot seems far better than the one I got at Theler a few days before because I was so much closer.

The Harlequin Ducks were not to be found in their usual places when I got to Ft. Flagler. In fact, I had to walk all the way out to the point to find them at all, and because of the high tide they were a long way off shore, too far to get any good shots.

Harlequins

We decided to go to the other end of the park to see what was there and ended up visiting the post museum. We were there long enough that the tide had receded and I decided to go back to see if the Harlequins had moved. Sure enough, they were a lot closer:

male Harlequin Duck

Although I have gotten several good shots of Red-Breasted Mergansers near Ft. Flagler, I took these shots at Ft. Worden after we spent time shopping Port Townsend. There was a small flock of male Mergansers fishing along the shore.

two Red-Breasted Mergansers

At first I thought it was a male and female merganser, but a closer look revealed the second bird is a male that hasn’t completed the transition to full breeding colors.

I wish I could have caught a shot of one actually coming up with a fish, but no such luck. Still, it’s hard to complain about getting this close with this good of light.

male Red-Breasted Merganser

To me the beauty of these birds reflects the beauty of these places, preserved in two large state parks because they had, until recently, been owned by the Army and the Federal government. Hard to miss the irony of that. Imagine what a beautiful place the world could be if all military installations were shut down and converted to parks.