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Labor Day (9/5) afternoon at the marsh. Taken with the 5DIII + 100-400L II telephoto zoom. I didn't have time to set up the 500L telephoto and tripod.
When shore birds out in the marsh suddenly take off at once, it is best to look for a predator that might have scared them. Monday's culprit was a juvie Cooper's hawk, possibly the one I recently photographed by the boardwalk.
The killdeer in the upper left corner was one of about a dozen shorebirds that took flight ahead of the hawk.
Cooper's hawks can fly into foliage that is too dense for larger raptors.
Disappearing into the foliage that lines Willow Creek on the far south side of the marsh.
Tuesday afternoon (9/13) My son and I paid a visit to the fishing pier, which finally reopened after extensive rebuilding. Heermann's gulls, summer visitors to Puget Sound, will start leaving at the end of the month for their annual migration to Southern California and Mexico. They are one of the few gulls that I can ID.
Yeah... I stopped by this afternoon, after I got back from the whale-watching trip... not much there, though I did manage a nice sunset shot of the ferry...
While wrapping up Saturday afternoon (9/10) Bird Fest activities at the marsh, I spotted a mystery raptor circling Pt. Edwards while being chased by a smaller black bird. My photos were not good, but I could tell by the shape of its wings and manner of flying that it was not a hawk, eagle, or osprey. My guesses were a harrier or a flacon.
Tuesday afternoon (9/20) I was at the #3 viewing platform of the marsh and spotted a peregrine falcon flying north over the railroad tracks.
Comparing its size and flight to that of the mystery raptor, I believe the mystery raptor was a northern harrier.
I'm not so sure, Bill... the wing shape doesn't look right for a harrier... it's too pointed, and the wing bends backward more than a harrier's normally does... hard to tell from these images, but i'd lean more toward some kind of falcon...
The first day of autumn saw an osprey perched in one of the tall trees on Daley St., just east of 7th Ave. I have previously photographed osprey and eagles in this tree or the one next to it.
Some evil minions of the Dark Lord attempted to harass the osprey, but it paid them no heed. I have seen osprey threaten crows who dared perch too close.
The osprey will soon be leaving our area for their annual migration to Central America.
Sunday afternoon (9/25) the autumn osprey returned to its perch with a fish in tow. I had to tweak the exposure a little due to backlighting at the best photo angle.
Judging by the bee/wasp/hornet circling the bird, this branch must be a regular dining spot of the osprey.
I just missed getting a shot of a small baby seal lying on a dock in the Edmonds marina Wednesday morning (9/28). As I was standing above the spot where the seal had been, some large salmon swam beneath me.
A few minutes later two salmon came streaking past at full speed like torpedos. They were pursued by an adult seal, probably the mother of the baby.
Thursday morning (9/29) a red-breasted nuthatch was trying to stash a seed in the bark of one of my backyard Doug firs. Taken from my second story back deck.
The birds have been cleaning out my seed feeders since the weather turned autumn-like shortly after Labor Day.
Later that day I made a trip to the fishing pier, where I found large schools of tiny fish that someone said were young perch. The white object is a jellyfish.
A Heermann's gull was swooping low to scoop up the young fish.
The closest I came to getting a scoop shot that was in focus.
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