Author: Loren

A Day on the Washington Coast: Birding and More

Although the Spring Migration of Shorebirds is rapidly coming to a close, we spent Monday and Tuesday of this week on the Washington Coast and saw quite a few birds. Being frugal, we usually just drive up for the day and come home in the evening, but the tides weren’t very cooperative this week, with high tides at 8:15 pm on Monday night and another high tide at 7:00 am. If we had gone home Monday, it would have been nearly midnight before we could get home. If we had tried to get to Bottle Beach by 7:00 am we would have had to leave before 5:00 am; I love my birding but not that much.

As it was, we could take a leisurely drive to Ocean Shores to start the day, even though I didn’t expect to see too many birds there. We didn’t, but I always enjoy seeing Turnstones, particularly Ruddy Turnstones in breeding plumage.

The most common bird of the day was the Semipalmated Plover,

but there were many small flocks of sandpipers like these two Sanderlings in non-breeding and breeding plumage.

Best of all, the weather was delightful, sunny with light winds. We got in a 3-mile walk to start the day, followed by a visit to our favorite Ocean Shores art gallery and a hearty lunch at the Galway Bay Irish Pub. We saw enough birds that I knew we would get a good showing at Bottle Beach during our evening visit, so we checked into the newly remodeled Saltwater Inn and took a short rest before walking the marina looking for loons, pelicans and other migrating birds.

Birdwatching Adventures at Lake Ralphine

Thanks to the rain, we only got to walk around Lake Ralphine the entire week, and even then, we couldn’t walk all the way around Spring Lake because the trail was closed due to flooding.

As a result, we saw fewer birds than usual, but I appreciated them more than I might have usually, precisely because we had been trapped in the house so long.

We see male Buffleheads regularly at home, but seldom as close as this little guy was.

We often see Northern Flickers in our yard, and one even joined us while we were practicing Qi Gong in the front room, but I still liked this shot a lot.

We see Hairy Woodpeckers less often, so it was nice to spot this one.

My favorite shot of the day, though, was of my favorite California bird, an Acorn Woodpecker holding the food that gives it its name.

I’m always amazed by how many birds I see when I walk around Lake Ralphine/Spring Lake, despite the considerable number of people who walk there. Of course, if I had my way I would walk it every day I’m in Santa Rosa, at least everyday I wasn’t at Bodega Bay.

Capturing Nature: Great Egrets and Herons at Bodega Bay

For years we’ve only walked the beach on our visits to Bodega Bay, but a couple of years ago Debbie told us that there was another trail right after you entered the park. That trail became a mandatory stop ever since even though it’s not quite as exciting as the beach walk. The walk’s highlight is the rookery where Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and Great Blue Herons nest.

Not surprisingly, it’s also a good place to get shots of both Great Ibis and Snowy Ibis hunting for food together.

It’s also a good place to get a shot of the two species together and see the differences between the two.

It would take someone much more motivated than I am to get close enough to the rookery to get great close-up shots, but I was happy to get close-ups of a Great Egret

and a Snowy Egret hunting near the rookery.

It’s always a treat to find several different habitats, and, thus, different species, near the same place.

A Day in Bodega Bay: Birdwatching Despite Unpredictable Weather

Although the weather on our first day in Northern California, the day we visited the Sacramento and Colusa NWRs, was delightful, the rest of the week could best be described as unpredictable. It rained so hard during our first full day in Santa Rosa that water was pouring over the gutters. I didn’t mind that too much because it gave me time inside to sort the thousands of pictures we had taken at the Sacramento and Colusa NWR.

For a while, though, I was afraid the weather would keep us from going to Bodega Bay, another regular stop on our Santa Rosa visits. When the weather forecast finally predicted a sunny day, we quickly arranged our plans to go. It was a sunny day. Unfortunately, it was also a windy day.

High winds are usually not good for birding, as proved to be true on this visit. Nevertheless, I saw things I’ve never seen, like this huge flock of Godwits sheltering from the high winds. I’d never seen anything quite like this, so it took me a while to realize they were birds, much less Godwits.

It was only when I used my 800 mm lens that I realized these were birds, not foliage.

They certainly looked like the grassy knolls they were sheltering on.

We found a much smaller flock of Godwits, Willets, and smaller shorebirds on our beach walk. Unfortunately, the flock was disturbed by people, one annoying young man in particular, and flew back and forth, making it impossible to focus on a particular bird.

This photo, shot at a high shutter speed, was much clearer than what I actually saw, which was little more than a blur.

It was equally difficult to focus on a single bird on the ground because there were so many birds in the picture frame — and the sun wouldn’t cooperate.

It didn’t help that these little guys would skitter among the much larger Godwits and Willets. It did illustrate that flying in large flocks can not only provide camouflage but also make it difficult for predators to focus on a particular bird, improving its chances of making it to distant breeding grounds.

Though the birder in me was fascinated by seeing how well a large flock provided camouflage, the photographer in me was frustrated and wanted to get well-focused, bright shots of these beautiful birds. As it turned out, I had to wait until we were coming back from our walk to get a good shot of this Marbled Godwit

and this Willet.

Overall, the day was a little disappointing in that I didn’t see nearly as many birds as I usually do there this time of year, but it still seemed a lot better than sitting inside waiting for better weather.