Anyone a bird specialist reading this? I saw this heron sitting in the trees along the shore at Camano Island. It didn’t seem in a hurry to go anywhere and wasn’t spooked as I got closer to its perch to get some shots. It was high enough that it didn’t see me as relevant. I have seen Great Blue Herons but this didn’t look like that (it could be and I just didn’t recognize it). If you know what it is, please let me know.
The snow geese are a famous visitor to the Skagit area of Washington but they aren’t the only big birds to show up. Trumpeter swans are also a regular visitor and they are even larger. They don’t have the same social gathering approach as the geese so you won’t see them in their thousands. However, they do sometimes travel in smaller groups.
I was driving out towards Fir Island when I passed a bunch of them in a field. They were right next to a church which made for a convenient place to park without being in anyone’s way. They were not far from the parking lot and seemed to be busy feeding. Some immature examples were still showing their grey plumage but were well grown at this point. A little dispute resulted in some noise and flapping of wings but it all settled down quickly when the important matter of eating took over.
There were a few bald eagles hanging out on Camano Island during our trip there. There was one in a tree near the shore when we first got there. It didn’t seem in the least bit interested in us as we walked below it. If an eagle has recently eaten, it is quite likely to hang around for a long time doing nothing so we didn’t wait around to see what it did.
When we came back there were now two eagles in the area. I’ve no idea whether one was our original or if these two had come along since. A third flew past at one point getting the two quite agitated. If you have never heard the noise a bald eagle makes, you might be quite surprised. They have a high pitched squeak which doesn’t seem in keeping with their size. It is easy to identify though.
I wandered around trying to get the two of them in shot together. They were quite offset distance wise which meant getting them both in focus wasn’t practical. I did try and little Photoshop focus stacking when I got home though. It’s funny that bald eagles are so common in this part of the world but it is still exciting to see one and everyone seems to respond the same way.
The visit of snow geese to the region is a regular feature of winter near Puget Sound. We went to Fir Island a couple of years ago to see the birds and I spent a free weekend day mooching around the area to see what I could see. I knew that there were plenty of geese around because, when I stopped off to photograph something else, there were endless flocks of them flying overhead. Sometimes they would be in tight formations and then others, they would seem to be a bit disorganized.
When on Fir Island, I came around a corner and realized that they had found a field of interest not far from the road. Pulling off to one side, they were a little further away than ideal but a long lens would help. As I focused on them, I saw a bunch of birds coming in to land in the background. I snapped away quickly as I didn’t want to miss this shot. I needn’t have worried. There didn’t seem to be any limit to the number of these geese as more just kept on coming.
It really is quite impressive to see so many of these geese in one place. They travel in huge groups – presumably for safety – and the local farmers are encouraged to plant crops that support their visits in winter. They must clean out a field at a time and then move on. Presumably they do some good work fertilizing the fields in the process.
It’s not unusual to see seals along the shoreline at Mukilteo. The creation of the new ferry terminal seems to have provided them something new to explore. It also provides an elevated location from which to see them which is great since photographing seals when you are close to water level makes for difficult conditions and less than inspiring photos.
I don’t know how much the base of the ferry terminal provides for good food supply for the seals but they seemed to be hanging around for a while. Maybe it was curiosity or maybe the food was good. I was just glad to see them!
This tree trunk had been cut a while back. I was interested to see that some fungus was growing on the cut surface of the wood. However, there was clearly something about the outer rings of the wood that provided nutrients to the fungus that the older wood inside did not. The growth was focused on the outer rings only and there was absolutely no fungus on the inner layers. I wonder what the reason for this was. Any suggestions?
A small bay on Cascades Lake was a spot that a family of swans was hanging out as we hiked by. The cygnets were almost fully grown but still had the darker down to show that they were still not fully mature. The parents were still clearly paying attention to the safety of their kids, despite their size.
Lime Kiln Point is a popular spot for watching whales. A humpback was not far offshore but a Steller’s sea lion came swimming up along the shore. It was very close in and headed past the lighthouse and to the north. We went back to watching for the whale. A little while later, a snort came from our right with a spray of water. The Steller’s was back and was bobbing in the water right in front of us. It hung around long enough to take a couple of shots and then it went back north. I think it was jealous of the attention the whale was getting!
The shallow waters near the new ferry terminal at Mukilteo seemed to be a popular spot for the local cormorants to hunt. For a while, there was one cormorant almost directly below me that seemed to be having a pretty successful time fishing. A couple of times I saw it pop up and swallow something large so I spent a bit of time tracking it waiting for it to return again. Sure enough, it popped to the surface holding a rather large looking fish.
I am not a fish expert so I don’t know what it was. I just know it was still struggling to get away and, given the size, I was curious as to whether the bird would be able to eat it. I clearly underestimated its capabilities as a couple of quick adjustments and the whole thing went down in one go. I waited for it to dive again but, having had a few decent sized snacks, it was clearly letting its lunch go down. It was a while before it dived again. Just before it did, a bloom in the water led me to believe that it was making space for its next course.
While out photographing some aircraft (I know, shocking), some small birds were flying around the bushes behind me. I glanced back at some point to see what was making the noise and realized that the light on them was far better than on what I was shooting. I figured a quick few shots were in order.
