PNWPhotos.com a friendly and growing community of photographers with an interest in the Pacific Northwest region.
We feature a Photography Discussion Forum and Pacific Northwest Photo Gallery. It's a fun and friendly place to talk with other photographers, ask questions, share you knowledge, view and post photos and more!
Thursday (3/6) I also made trips to Marina Park and the fishing pier.
A female red-breasted merganser off Marina Park, probably the same one Debbie and I saw earlier in the week. Look closely and you can see "teeth" on the inside of her bill, which enable her to hang on to fish she snags.
The seal that was hoping to break into the salmon cage at the fishing pier brought along an accomplice.
A pigeon guillemot in breeding plumage continues to fish off the fishing pier.
Three times this week I have flushed something from the high ground between the #1 viewing platform (far west one) and the railroad tracks. I got only fleeting looks, but it had the shape of a snipe. Thursday (3/6) I got a "Sasquatch" shot of the mystery bird:
not sure what your "mystery bird" is, but it's unlikely it was a snipe. in my experience, snipe rarely fly when disturbed, unless you're right on top of them. usually, they'll simply move into thicker cover, hunker down and trust their camouflage to keep them safe. it works pretty well, too... unless you know where they are, they're almost impossible to spot; even if you do know where to look, they're insanely difficult to find, especially in the brown reeds and grasses this time of year...
More girlie birds, Bill. These are shots of the Annas hummer you pointed out on our traipse along the Point Edwards detention pond trail. I wonder if these girls are expecting?
All taken with the Canon 7D and 400mmm f5.6L. It was great being so close.
Thankfully, Wednesday (3/12) was a step up from itsy bitsy cutesy gurlie birds.
One of two Steller's jays retreiving peanuts in my backyard. The jays will swallow the first peanut in order to retrieve a second one before flying away.
One of the barred owl pair at Yost Park. I was surprised at how exposed the owl was in the daylight. It was as though it wanted to enjoy the sunshine like everyone else in town.
A juvie bald eagle was enjoying the sunshine on Hanna Park Rd. just north of Sunset Ave. It stayed in this tree for over an hour.
Brant off the fishing pier. It is difficult to photograph the catch light in their eyes.
A pelagic cormorant was catching shrimp off the fishing pier.
We finished the afternoon watching the Pt. Edwards eagles' nest. One eagle was in the nest and another flew in with a fish. We will have to wait and see if we have eaglets in 2014.
If there is a nest, finding it will be the great owl quest of 2014. Last year I never did find a nest or see any juvies. This year there are four of us who are actively looking for a nest and owlets.
I located the owl in the photo by tracking its call, which was in response to a call from further up the hill in the NE corner of the park. The NE corner has old Doug firs which provide good winter cover for the owls when the trees in the ravine are devoid of leaves. My son and I had just been up in the NE corner, but we did not see anything.
The owl in Wednesday's photo was perched in a tree by the creek at the bottom of the ravine, where the pair hung out last summer. I was surprised to see it there so early in the year, as the trees have not yet leafed out. There was no cover for the owl other than the lone evergreen tree (hemlock?) where it was perched. Even then, it was not perched under the branches near the trunk. The owl was out in the open in the bright sunlight where it could be an easy target for crows.
This eagle remained perched on the tall spar at the fish hatchery for nearly two hours. It appeared to be drying its feathers after a bath or a dive in the Sound. Terry, Janine, and I got lots of photos.
The eagle gave us a questionable look. It had better get used to us, as we will be photographing it quite often if it stays in Edmonds.
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)
PNWPhotos.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com
