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Friday afternoon (2-16-18) a male Anna's hummingbird kept perching on the twig of a blackberry bramble above the tracks by Sunset Ave. Since all of our local hummers must have names, Casey sounds logical for a hummer that is working on the railroad.
There has been nothing of interest to photograph at the marsh except the resident great blue herons.
A small flock of Harlequin ducks was resting on the tethered log at the underwater dive park at Brackett's Landing North.
This female mallard at the small retention pond in Pine Ridge Park was showing off her blue patch, which was not visible in the other female mallards I saw.
Wesley topped off his performance by landing about 10 feet from us on the hedge next to the boardwalk. He was so close that I had to back off on my telephoto zoom to get him in focus.
February has gone and its now time for March Marsh Madness. Things started off Saturday (3-3-18) with a visiting merlin, which perched on the tallest tree next to the boardwalk. It approached from the marina and stayed a few minutes before continuing east over the Harbor Square complex.
I had to wait for photos until the wind blew the branch away from the merlin's head.
It may have returned later in the day as I saw that looked like a merlin zip past me as I was talking to someone on the boardwalk. One of our local nature photographers told me that he had seen one earlier this year near the fishing pier.
Later that afternoon three of us saw the resident juvie Cooper's (?) hawk perched on the swallow box west of the #1 viewing platform.
After grooming itself for several minutes, it dived into the foliage east of the platform.
We thought it might have captured a small bird like one of the marsh wrens I had heard calling from that area, but it came up empty-taloned and flew west towards the railroad tracks.
I photographed the two pairs as they swam together up and back the small, dead-end channel off the #1 viewing platform.
male
female
I have only seen hoodies swim in Willow Creek at the south side of the marsh, never in the waterways at the north side where they can be easily photographed.
Stay tuned for more March Marsh Madness.
If you check out the Edmonds Eagles 2018 thread, you will see that the first day of March was an all eagle day for me. I did; however, get photos of some of our winter visitors between eagle shots from the fishing pier.
Female red-breasted merganser. A small flock has been hanging out around Olympic Beach and Brackett's Landing North.
Surf scoters are a winter visitor that hang around the fishing pier, where they wait for the tide to drop low enough to expose mussels that are embedded in the barnacles attached to the supports. Although I have lots of photos of surf scoters, they are hard to pass up because they are so photogenic, especially mature males. One must pay particular attention not to over-expose shots of the males on sunny winter days when the sun is coming in at a low angle and reflecting off their white feathers and bills.
Immature male
Mature male
Female
A pelagic cormorant is starting to phase into breeding plumage, which will eventually include long white feathers on its head and neck.
More March Marsh Madness
Although Monday (3-5-18) was overcast and chilly, these conditions made for better photos than the warm sunshine of two days prior.
A great blue caught a rodent(?), not the first time I have witnessed this behavior. The heron flew a short distance with the rodent in its bill, then ate it. The heron was too quick for me to get in position for a good shot.
The heron had a full crop after devouring the rodent.
Still to come: the further adventures of Fenimore, the resident juvenile Cooper's hawk.
Fenimore, the juvie Cooper's hawk we have been photographing since last August, was busy Saturday making the rounds at the marsh. I first saw him when he flew up out of the grass near the boardwalk and perched on the old martin gourd stand. He was promptly buzzed by two evil minions of the Dark Lord.
Next stop was the swallow box #3, located off the #3 viewing platform. A panoramic view with the 1Dx + 100-400L II telephoto zoom.
A closer view with the 7DII + 500L telephoto + 1.4x TC. The hawk took off towards the trees that line the marsh along the walkway.
I looked to no avail for Fenimore on the ground and in the trees along the walkway between the #2 (main) and #3 viewing platforms. I returned to the #2 viewing platform only to find him perched on swallow box #2 opposite the platform.
He stayed for a few minutes, then flew out to the #4 swallow box, which is the next one south of the #3 box.
He did not stay at swallow box #4 for long before taking off to box #5, the box farthest south and nearest Willow Creek.
Last stop was the sign at the #1 viewing platform, located at the west end of the boardwalk near the railroad tracks.. Swallow box #1, visible in the background, was the one where I had photographed him Saturday.
From the sign he took off and landed on one of the telephone poles by the railroad tracks, then flew west toward the marina.
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