I am a creature of habit, especially when it’s a habit I enjoy, like following a visit to Theler Wetlands with a visit to Port Orchard to check out seabirds I find there but not at Theler. I’ve been somewhat remiss about visiting Port Orchard in the last few years because they have been doing extensive repairs to the marina, which has chased most of the seabirds away. Luckily, they seemed to have completed repairs, and the birds have started coming back, even if not yet in the numbers they used to be seen there.
The marina used to be my go-to place to get shots of Horned Grebes in breeding colors because there were lots of them hanging around, but on this visit I only saw two in non-breeding plumage.
There were more Barrow’s Goldeneye than any other species, and I took lots of shots, but I like this little guy who was off on his own best.
I also got a shot of a female Hooded Merganser, one of Leslie’s favorite birds.
Probably the best shot of the day was this one of a Pelagic Cormorant drying off its wings.
You can do a lot with underexposed shots with modern photography apps, but nothing quite matches bright sunshine. It’s only in bright sunshine that you see that iridescent green on them.