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Friday afternoon (4/10) Daren used the 7D + 100-400L zoom at the marsh while I used the super telephoto setup of 5DIII + 500L + 2x teleconverter. The overcast gave perfect lighting conditions with no glare or heat waves like the previous day. Here are Daren's photos:
Wilson's snipe.
Song sparrow perched on Wesley's fence behind the #1 viewing platform.
Pt. Edwards eagle cruising over the marsh.
Pt. Edwards eagle being harassed by an evil minion of the Dark Lord.
An evil minion of the Dark Lord sizing us up near the #1 viewing platform.
This has been a banner year for snipes at the marsh. Friday we spotted three or four of them. I wish the lighting conditions had been this good the previous day when I was trying to photograph the two lesser yellowlegs. 5DIII + 500L + 2x teleconverter, tripod mounted
One stretched its wings before making a short flight to the other side of the waterway closest to the #1 viewing platform.
Three were in the open patch below the fence post closest to the #1 viewing platform. Two are in this photo.
A snipe takes on the appearance of a taller, sleeker bird when it walks quickly.
Young Dave came up with a formula for calculating the number of snipes present. Sn = Vn + 1, where Sn is the total number of snipes and Vn is the number of snipes visible.
love the goose-stepping snipe in the last one! interesting formula, too... though i'd suspect the number of hidden snipes would at all times be more than 1...
Two or three red-tailed hawks have been circling over downtown Edmonds and the marsh for the past week. Two of them have been engaged in what looked like courtship behavior.
Saturday afternoon (4/11/15) I photographed one which appeared to have a blue tag on its right wing, #62 or #29, depending on which side is up.
I e-mailed the photo to Bud Anderson of the Falcon Research Group hoping that he could identify the bird. Here is his reply:
This is a bird I captured at Sea-Tac on 2 May 2014, or last spring. After capture, I transported it to Bow, WA, here on the Samish Flats where I live and 75 miles north of the busy runways. It was seen again on 10 March this year at Echo Lake and now your sighting a month later and not too far from there. Of course, it has now molted into adult plumage and is no doubt searching for a place to settle in, probably next year.
What we are finding is that the young birds wander widely in their first and then second year before locating a place/mate for breeding. Once that occurs, the bird will stay near its nesting area for most of its life, although some wander a bit. I strongly suspect that a few may even move up into the Cascades during the hot summer months and return again when the snows hit.
I am happy to report that not many birds return to the airport after we move them. Only 9 of 176 juveniles have done so. Of those most moved on right away, two have stayed to breed and just one was struck. One out of 176. Not bad. So to me, this seems to demonstrate that moving them is a far better alternative to shooting them as some people still do. Anyway, your sighting is of great help and all of us on the raptor team at Sea-Tac appreciate it.
For those who are out photographing hawks, keep an eye out for a leg band or wing tag. If you find one, send me a PM and I'll send you Bud Anderson's e-mail address. Hopefully he can ID the bird from your photo.
While 2015 may be the year of the ram in the Chinese lunar calendar, it is proving to be the year of the snipe at the Edmonds marsh. Monday afternoon (4/13) I caught one in the mudflat off the board walk between the #1 and #2 viewing platforms.
Snipe hunt: Can you spot it?
Need a little help?
Although snipes sport some of the best camouflage found in nature, they are fairly visible to the naked eye when caught out in the open.
The snipe has a very long bill in proportion to its head and body.
The snipe puts its long bill to use as it hunts for food in the water and mud of the marsh. Speaking as someone with a BS in Bacteriology & Public Health (WSU '72, Go Cougs!), I think scientists should study the snipe's immune system. You and I would die within a few days if we directly ingested anything coming out of that brackish, muddy soup.
We have a new saying: ATL; which stands for After Terry Leaves. All of Wednesday's woodpecker and owl photos were taken after you left us at the fish hatchery.
Someone recently told me that there is a small pond at the NE corner of the Meadowdale Playfields, the softball park where I photograph the osprey nest. Thursday (4/16/15) my son Daren and I checked out the pond, where we found a rather large red-eared slider. It is a turtle species not native to the PNW, but commonly sold in local pet stores. This one was probably dumped off at the pond after its owner tired of it.
I took this photo.
Daren took this photo.
Red-eared sliders have no problem surviving in our area as I have seen others at Scriber Lake and Chase Lake.
We have a new saying: ATL; which stands for After Terry Leaves. All of Wednesday's woodpecker and owl photos were taken after you left us at the fish hatchery.
A lesser(?) yellowlegs was present at the marsh Saturday (4/18) morning....
as were four western(?) sandpipers.
Later in the afternoon I got a Sasquatch shot of a mystery raptor flying over the marsh. Judging by its tapered wings and manner of flight, I think it was a peregrine falcon.
Work on "osprey-proofing" the cellphone tower at Dunn Lumber in Lynnwood continued on Monday (4/20). The project is being done under contract by Osprey Solutions, LLC and Bud Anderson of the Falcon Research Group. The osprey will have a safer place to nest in the nest platform at the south end of the All City Fence property.
Installing the anti-osprey hardware on the lower deck of the cell phone tower.
The osprey pair was upset about being evicted from their newest nest, but hopefully they will find the new nesting platform.
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