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I wrapped up the day by visiting the marsh at sunset. I swapped cameras and used the 5DIII due to low light and high ISO settings.
A local birder spotted one sandpiper chick and one or two Virginia rail chicks.
I could only manage Sasquatch shots of the rail chicks as they dashed across a waterway between the bullrush islands.
Bird photos from Wednesday (8-1-18, a palindromic date).
A green heron at Sprague Pond, located at Mini Park in Lynnwood. It was about this time last year that we were photographing green heron chicks at this location.
Three juvie wood ducks.
Close up of one.
A purple martin was carrying a dragonfly over the Edmonds marina. The bird had probably snagged the dragon fly at the marsh and was carrying it to one of the martin boxes on the pilings by the ferry dock. The dragon fly looks like a propeller.
Marsh wren at the marsh. Where else would you find one?
A flock of western sandpipers were at the marsh. The curse of Chamber of Commerce weather continues as heat waves radiating off the mud flats continue to make photography difficult.
I photographed a larger, white sandpiper in the creek. It may have been the adult spotted sandpiper, but I could not make a positive ID due to the heat waves distorting my photos.
I photographed a larger, white sandpiper in the creek. It may have been the adult spotted sandpiper, but I could not make a positive ID due to the heat waves distorting my photos.
Friday evening (8-10-18) I went down to the marsh about an hour before sunset to try to take photos without the distortion of the heat waves.
I think I found the shorebird I had tried to photograph the previous day. It looks like a greater yellowlegs based on its slightly upturned bill. As always, dissenting opinions as to the ID are welcome.
This year's tall, lush foliage at the marsh has made bird photography from the usual locations very difficult.
I have received three votes so far for greater yellowlegs. One responding birder aded the following: a good clue to Greater Yellowlegs is that the bill length is longer than the length of the head – here looks to be close to 1 ½ times.
Catching up on the weekend's photos, starting with Saturday (8-11-18). It was rainy and overcast all day, so I went down to the marsh in the hopes of getting some photos without heat waves.
A group of geese (too small for me to call a clock) were present, then took off.
My quest for the day was to get good photos of the greater yellowlegs. Mission accomplished as I picked it up at Willow Creek, then tracked it as it walked across the marsh and back to the creek.
From Sunday (8-12-18). Sandpipers continue to show up at the marsh. Distance and lighting make identification difficult.
Distance was no problem when I saw a small sandpiper at Brackett's Landing North while I was photographing the sunset. I was always comfortable ID-ing small sandpipers with black legs as westerns until I found out that semi-palmated sandpipers are nearly identical to westerns. The main difference is that westerns have a slightly longer, dropping bill while the bill of the semipalmated is smaller and straight.
The western(?) sandpiper was scratching an itch.
A killdeer was on the beach as well. I got a shot of the two together, which gives an indication of the small size of a western.
I had not seen Fenimore, the juvie Cooper's hawk, at the marsh in quite some time. Birders have told me of recent sightings of two hawks.
Sunday afternoon one flew past the #3 viewing platform and landed in a tree next to us. It is one of the places I would see Fenimore perch as he patroled the marsh.
The hawk was so close that I took my first photos with the 7DII + 24-105L wide angle zoom.
I followed up with the 1Dx + 100-400L II telephoto zoom.
Fenimore(?) took off after a few minutes to resume his patrol.
Monday (8-13-18) was a busy birding day despite the sun and smoke which made long distance photography impossible. I have tried for years to get closeups of osprey and Caspian terns diving for fish. The terns were diving off Brackett's Landing north, giving me my closest diving shots yet.
I finished the day at Haines Wharf Park, where I saw a bird chasing pigeons. The shots were silhouettes, which I enhanced to post here. It looks like a peregine(?) falcon to me.
I took heed of the health advisories and stayed indoors all day Monday (8-20-18) due to record breaking poor air quality in the Puget Sound region.
The birds did not have this option as I photographed a flicker at my backyard suet feeder.
The air quality in the Puget Sound region continues to be poor due to wild fires. Tuesday afternoon (8-21-18) I got cabin fever and drove down to the marsh, hoping the air would be better close to the Sound. It wasn't.
Five shore birds that I believe were Baird's sandpipers were out in the mud. No heat waves to spoil the photos today, just smoke.
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