Category: Washington Coast

Although it seems weeks away, it was just last Saturday that we drove up to Port Townsend and Fort Lagler because it was supposed to be a sunny day, not a day to be wasted here in the Pacific Northwest wintertime. And for a change the weather forecast was actually correct.

After a pleasant breakfast in Port Townsend, we headed to Ft Flagler only to discover that the tide was very high and the Harlequin Ducks I drive up to visit weren’t in their usual place. Instead, I was greeted by this Black-Bellied Plover in non-breeding colors.

Further out on the spit, we encountered a small flock of Sanderlings also in non-breeding colors,

and an even smaller flock of Dunlins who I didn’t immediately recognize without the black bellies that make them so striking during breeding season.

Considering that I didn’t see them until I was almost on top of them I can attest to the effectiveness of their winter camouflage.

My sighting of shorebirds was capped by a later sighting of two Black Oystercatchers in precisely the same spot as Leslie spotted them the first time I’d ever seen them up close.

They seemed equally indifferent this time.

I forgot how much I like seeing shorebirds. Seeing shorebirds makes visiting the ocean even more enjoyable than it already was, and it was already one of my favorite places to visit.

I was shocked to realize it has been five months since Leslie and I had been to Port Townsend. So with a break in the weather this weekend, we decided it was time to go back. If I hadn’t had computer memory arriving Friday, we would have spent both Friday and Saturday there. Instead, we got up around 5:30 AM and headed out for breakfast at the Sweet Laurette Cafe & Bistro. It was a great breakfast, and we spent the morning visiting art shops, even though I was unable to indulge myself because I’d already spent too much updating my computer this month.

It felt strange driving back to Ft Flagler after visiting Port Townsend since we had always visited Ft Flagler first in the past. I wondered if the birds I usually see in the morning would be there in the afternoon. As it turned out birding was pretty awful, but it might have been because of the tide, and the winds, not the time of day.

The most spectacular “birds” we saw on our trip were actually humans riding the high winds on their parafoils.

The real birds, though, were huddled on the south side of the jetty, forced up onto the grass fields because there was virtually no shoreline.

I’ve always seen plovers on the shore before, certainly never foraging on grass fields.

The Harlequin Ducks were in the same place, hunkered up next to the shore avoiding the high winds.

Unfortunately, by that time of the day the light was directly behind them and their beautiful colors were muddied, at best.

In fact, the only shot I got with good lighting was this shot of Pelagic Cormorants posed on the old pier posts.

Usually they seem to be black, but seen in just the right light their iridescent green feathers seem quite beautiful.

The highlight of my recent trip to the ocean was the large number of Whimbrels I saw at Bottle Beach. It’s not really unusual to see Whimbrels. I’ve gotten pictures of them before, but always at a distance. This time didn’t start any different from before; I got shots of them standing way out as the tide came in.

For some reason, though, a few of them starting coming closer and I was able to get some good shots of isolated Whimbrels.

The fun started when I was following one and noticed it had found something like a huge worm in the sand.

As soon as it found it another whimbrel rushed over and started pecking at the same spot, while the original finder took off running down the beach, apparently knowing that others would soon give chase.

As I sat there taking pictures, I soon discovered that it wasn’t only food they were fighting over. Several Whimbrels appeared to be playing king-of-the-mountain.

chasing one another off rocky outcroppings.

Although I didn’t manage to get shots of any Whimbrels in flight, I got some “action” shots, and I couldn’t have asked for more than that.