Category: Theler Wetlands

Birdwatching in the Pacific Northwest: A Sunny Day Adventure

It’s been a long, wet Winter here in the Pacific Northwest, and it doesn’t look like the rain is ready to leave quite yet.  As you may have noticed, that’s meant a lack of bird pictures. Hopefully, that’s about to change, though, as we’ve had a couple of sunny days, allowing us to bird Belfair, and, more recently, the Port Townsend area.

Just because it’s sunny here in Tacoma doesn’t mean that it is necessarily going to be sunny where the birds are, though, as we found at our visit to Theler where we were greeted by fog

A misty walking path surrounded by trees, creating a serene and tranquil atmosphere.


 and a general lack of birds.  Most of the birds we did see seemed more interested in finding food than in posing for pictures,

A bird perched upside down on a branch, reaching for small berries.


at least until we encountered this Pheasant

A pheasant standing in dry grass, with droplets of water on the grass and a blurred background.

Along the trail. I assume he was probably raised locally since pheasants are uncommon here in Western Washington, and he seemed largely indifferent to the cameras pointed at his face.

My favorite picture from our morning walk at Belfair was this shot of a Spotted Towhee swallowing a berry.

A close-up of a bird with dark feathers and an orange belly, perched on a branch, holding a berry in its beak.

It didn’t hurt that the sun had finally burned most of the fog off.

At other times, I might have been disappointed by how few birds we saw, but it felt great to walk four miles without getting rained on.   

Finding Snipes: A Birdwatcher’s Journey

My last trip to Theler Wetlands in Belfair turned out to be a bit of a disappointment because the tide was so far out that whatever birds were around were too far away to get any pictures. Ironically, on this visit, the tide was so high that the mudflats were entirely covered with water.

So, as it turned out, virtually all the birds we saw were those patrolling the Union River like this Ring-billed Gull

A seagull in flight over a blurred natural background.

and an immature Ring-Billed Gull (I think) that seemed to be travelling with it.

A bird in flight against a blue sky with clouds.

One of the highlights of the day was watching this small flotilla of Common Mergansers feeding at a bend in the river.

Several ducks swimming in a body of water with rippling reflections, surrounded by green grass.

Unfortunately, they were a long way away and the sun wasn’t totally cooperating, so I had a hard time getting decent shots. This shot of an immature male (on the left) and two females was my favorite.

Three ducks swimming in a wetland area, with green grass in the background.

I would have entirely missed the highlight of the day if Leslie hadn’t seen this Snipe with her binoculars. I’ll have to admit that I never could see it with my bare eyes; I could only see it with my 800mm lens. Even then, this shot has been heavily cropped.

A solitary bird standing in shallow water among reeds, with its reflection visible in the water.

Snipes hold a special place in my heart because it took nearly five years for me to see a Snipe after I started seriously birding. Even at 70 years of age I began to wonder if that old ploy to send a youngster on a “snipe hunt” wasn’t true.

Thankfully, Luck — and a lot of persistence —generally rewards us with the results we’re looking for.

Exploring Birding: AI vs Real Photography

On my recent trip I met John and the monthly birding group that visits Theler Wetlands  on the Second and Fourth Thursday of every month. The photographers in the group were all trying to capture shots of the seldom seen Crossbill. Naturally I joined in, but was generally frustrated because the birds were too close for my camera to focus or I had so many branches between me and the bird that my camera wouldn’t focus on the Crossbill.

This is the best shot I could manage out of twelve photos taken, and it’s one I would normally just trash, certainly not post.

While I was trying to polish the photo and make it as presentable as possible I remembered a Adobe promotion I’d gotten recently and wondered what kind of picture of a Crossbill I could get using their AI.

The first images I generated were pretty cartoonish,

but after several iterations and a more detailed description I got this picture,

and I’ll have to admit that it’s a better shot than I’ve ever gotten of a Crossbill.

And it took less time to generate than I spent trying to improve the photo that I took.

Which leaves me with the question of why should I carry a heavy camera around when all I have to do is make a list of the birds I see on a walk and then use AI to generate them.

Heck, why walk at all when all I have to do is imagine what birds I would see if I went on a walk and then generate them in Photoshop ?

Would a reader know the difference or would they just think I was a fabulous photographer?

Luckily, I know my body would feel the difference, and I am too stuck in my ruts to give up birding. Getting out in nature is both physical exercise and a form of meditation that I can never get from my computer or iPhone.

Perhaps I should end this with a quote from Thich Nhat Hanh:” “When you walk, if you enjoy every step, if every step nourishes and transforms you, then every step is a prayer.”

A Quiet Walk at Theler Wetlands

It’s been quite a while since we managed to get out to Theler Wetlands, so I wanted to see what was there before we left for another trip to California and Arizona.  If this visit was typical of the last few weeks, we haven’t missed too much.

You know it’s a slow day when I stop to get a shot of a male Mallard, even though I’m always a little surprised at how beautiful they are when you really look at them.  That iridescent head is a real knockout. I’m not sure familiarity breeds contempt, but it certainly seems to breed indifference. 

We also saw several pairs of Green-winged Teal feeding along the opposite side of the Union River.

Although there were still some small flocks of Canada Geese, most seemed to have paired off and were loudly claiming their territory when they weren’t feeding.

Luckily, Leslie saved the day, at least photographically, when she spotted our favorite Marsh Wren loudly proclaiming that we were intruding on his kingdom.  

Marsh Wrens are a favorite, and I really liked this shot. 

As the saying goes, “All we need is one good bird.”  And we got it.