I’m finally back to home turf with regard to photos and have quite a backlog dating to the first of the year. Yesterday I decided that there was really no reason to post photos from my excursions in chronological order, so for this post I’m using the old ‘lifo’ (a cost accounting term for ‘last in, first out’) methodology.
Yesterday, February 16, 2013 was a somewhat uncertain weather day but I decided to take my chances and it turned out to be a very good decision. Since it was a Saturday, I knew I wouldn’t be alone.
I began my journey by driving around March’s Point, mainly to look for waterfowl. The waterfowl were in short supply but I did find this pair of Bald eagles in a tree. These were to be only a couple of the many, many eagles I would see during the day.
Pair of Bald Eagles on March’s Point
Next up was an American Kestrel along a road that I usually don’t frequent but which will now be on my regular itinerary. I’ve found kestrels to be extremely skittish but this one, I must say, was very accommodating.
Male American Kestrel
I returned to the same location several hours later and again found the kestrel. This time as I photographed it, it flew to the ground and brought something back up to a fence post. As best I can tell, it’s a small green worm of which it made very fast work.
Male American Kestrel with ‘prey’
Male American Kestrel with ‘prey’
I next descended into the Samish Flats area and encountered a Rough-legged hawk on the most common perch they have in the Flats… a power pole. This was the first Rough-legged hawk I had positively identified this year and in processing my photos I was reminded of just how beautiful the birds can be. They are much more tolerant of humans than their Red-tailed cousins and I was able to drive almost under this hawk and photograph it without disturbing it.
Rough-legged Hawk
I drove less than half a mile and discovered yet another Rough-legged hawk, and it was indeed a rare one… it was in a deciduous bush with few intervening branches!
Rough-legged Hawk
While I was maneuvering my vehicle the hawk flew and landed on a sign within maybe 30′ of my car! A sign is down the scale from even a power pole but it didn’t stop me from taking more photos or telling the tale!
Rough-legged hawk
My final featured raptor from this trip was a Northern harrier I found hunting along the side of the road. The harrier was intent on flying just over the weeds along the road and it gave me several opportunities to photograph it in flight. I’m fairly certain that this bird is a female.
Northern Harrier