Month: June 2023

More at Ft. Flagler

We may have gone to Fort Flagler to see shorebirds migrating, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t notice all the other birds that were there.

Though I’ve begun seeing them in other places, I have seen more Black Oystercatchers at Ft. Flagler than all the other places combined.  On this visit I finally got a picture of one with a catch, a small clam.    

Black Oystercatcher with Clam

A little research revealed that Oystercatchers eat all kinds of shellfish, not just oysters.

A Bald Eagle is also a resident of the park, and, though I would have preferred to not have seen it while birding the peninsula, there he suddenly was.

Bald Eagle

I suspect Mr. Eagle is the reason there have been so few Harlequin Ducks at Ft. Flagler the last two years, but this pair seems to still be hanging in there.

pair of Harlequin Ducks

It’s nearly impossible not to see birds when they’re this close (though a surprising number of the people walking the beach apparently don’t look at them), but, if you look out into the bay long enough, you’re sure to see even more birds offshore, like these three Red-Breasted Mergansers, 

Red-breasted Mergansers in the distance

and these Bufflehead ducks.

a small flock of Bufflehead ducks

Sometimes you even catch a glimpse of a different kind of wildlife even though you’re just focused on finding birds.

Loon and Harbor Seal

I suspect there might not be as many birds at Ft. Flagler in the summer but I don’t really know since we usually head up to the mountains then, but it has always been an awe-some place to bird when we’ve been there.

Whimbrel is the Bird-of-the-Day

Although I enjoyed seeing all the shorebirds in breeding plumage, the â€?”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.

Dunlin and Short-billed Dowitchers

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:  â€?”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.”

Black-bellied Plovers at Ft. Flagler

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.