Category: Port Orchard

Hooded Merganser

I enjoyed my Monday trip to Theler Wetlands, but I loved the time I spent at the Port Orchard marina. Winter must be upon us because the sea ducks, grebes and cormorants have returned.

Not sure I’ve ever seen three male Hooded Mergansers

male Hooded Mergansers

together before, but I definitely think that having three of them made it possible to get better closeups of the one on the left, who floated around aimlessly, at times even coming closer while the other two faded into the background.

I ended up with a ton of shots to choose from, each of them a little different from the others. This is a favorite,

male Hooded Merganser

but I sure wish the white breast hadn’t blown out, even with the camera set to underexpose a half f-stop.

Turned the other way, it’s the head feathers that are blown out

male Hooded Merganser

even after adjusting severely in Aperture. Still, this might be my favorite shot ever, though I can’t be sure of that until I finish going through my old shots and compare them.

I love the reflections you get in the marina. No where else I’ve shot comes even close to adding the reflections that I get there with almost no effort on my part, miraculously, as it were.

Horned Grebes

On my Monday trip to Port Orchard I didn’t see a single Horned Grebe. Since I only saw one the week before, I assume they’ve left for their breeding grounds in Canada and Alaska, thus ending my year-long attempt to document their transformation from winter colors to full breeding colors.

I first became aware of the dramatic changes last year but made a trip to California before the change in plumage was complete. Our late-winter trip to California this year made it possible to see the final transformation.

It’s still hard for me to believe that a small black and white bird I photographed in January can transform into this:

Horned Grebe in Breeding Colors

Horned Grebe in Breeding Colors

Horned Grebe in Breeding Colors

Gull Bites Off More than He Can Chew

While I was walking to the Port Orchard Public Dock to look for Horned Grebes, a gentleman, seeing the large camera around my neck, said, â€?”You’ve got to get a picture of a seagull with a huge starfish in his mouth.” Naturally, I couldn’t resist the chance for any kind of good shot.

It was, to say the least, quite amazing.

Unfortunately, it was so close that I could not manage to fit the whole bird in the frame.

Gull with starfish

A little maneuvering, though, allowed me to show just how content the bird seemed with a starfish crammed in his throat,

Gull with starfish

no matter how uncomfortable that seemed to me.

I thought I’d finished taking shots and headed down the dock, only to meet the bird a little later, with the starfish folded in half and so far down his throat that there was

Gull with starfish

a clear bulge in the back of his neck.

If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’m not sure I would have believed it.

Horned Grebes in Full Breeding Colors

After last weeks trip to Theler Wetlands I went to the Port Orchard Public Marina to see if the Horned Grebes were in full breeding color.

They were.

Horned Grebe in breeding colors

Unlike the week before when most were in various stages of changing color, this week most were in full breeding colors.

Horned Grebe in breeding colors

I’m totally amazed by their transformation from a small, inconspicuous bird to this.

Horned Grebe in breeding colors

I’m pretty sure that if they had a Common Loon’s wail that people would be calling them demonic birds.

Amazingly, despite their brilliant stripes, they actually seem harder to spot in the water than in their white plumage.