Greatest hits of the late-winter shooting season

30 Mar Greatest hits of the late-winter shooting season

Posted March 29, 2015 from Seattle, WA

Delia and I have made some half-hearted trips out of Seattle including today to Point No Point.  We found our first Orange-crowned Warbler of the season there, a big squadron of Brant were bravely swimming out in the wind-whipped water and a huge flock of Bonaparte’s Gulls were a little off-shore. 

But a River Otter that was determined to create a photo-op dragged a flounder (sorry don’t know the species!) to shore and took a while consuming it.  I thought he was a big tom, but just a guess.

Here’s a shot that will be over on the news page of this website by tomorrow, our male Violet-green Swallow has returned and taken possession of it’s traditional nest box for this year’s breeding season.  Oh, and this is important of course–he’s hitched!

We were out in Tolt MacDonald Park recently, where we ran into this Red-breasted Sapsucker that was sort of the opposite of the River Otter at No Point.  This bird was good at keeping a couple branches between itself and the camera.

 See what I mean?

Nearby an early Rufous Hummingbird posted up on a conifer.

And at Point No Point this had to be the most patient Anna’s Hummingbird in the state but still, I’m learning this camera and  I fumbled around most of the time, the shot I should have had should have been much more brilliant magenta (do I sound like a fisherman?) but this is still better than I would have had with my older more expensive camera (I have a Cannon Powershot, just a point-and-shoot.)

This Ring-necked Duck pair was at Nisqually, if you can see the ringed neck on this duck, it’s a passable shot.

Many Great Blue Herons are usually present at the Nisqually.  This shot I included because I thought it showed how handsome they can be without really trying.

Here’s the River Otter again.  Some of the shots were so in close with the flounder I didn’t have the heart to put them up.

Common Mergansers have that evil first name but they are really a glamour duck.  Here two mated pair cruise down Issaquah Creek.

There was a Palm Warbler at the mouth of the Cedar and various ducks.  And again, it was the Common Mergansers that were willing to strike the most flamboyant pose for us.

These Barrow’s Goldeneye were in Seattle.  This is definitely a bad shot because it totally fails to catch the blue-purple sheen of the plumage.

This Spotted Towhee in our backyard is out of focus but sometimes you get an individual that is maybe a looker by Towhee standards, that’s what I  think we have here.

This is the lighthouse at Point No Point.  Pretty static shot there.

Here is the otter when he (?) was still wet. 

I’ll end the blog with a second shot, also that will be on the news page, of the bird I’m hoping will be the successful dad Violet-green Swallow at our house on Beacon Hill—they’ll be living in the annex!

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