The sun was shining on the morning of Jan 5, 2013, so I decided on another photographic excursion to some of my most productive birding areas.  I began with the west side of March’s Point and by the time I reached the east side of the road I hadn’t had a single opportunity for photographing any birds, which is rather unusual.  As I reached the point I spied a River otter in the water below me but it quickly disappeared behind me.  I decided to drive the shoreline again to try to find it but I suspect it crawled into the rocks somewhere below me.

On my second trip down the shoreline I was met by an accipiter which was working the shoreline and went sailing past me.  I turned around for it too but then noticed that it had attracted the attention of a gull and the two were having a confrontation far above me.

I continued to the far end of the east side of March’s Point Road and turned into the pulloff.  There I saw a single Killdeer out at the end of the peninsula near the bridge.  But as I watched I realized that there were others directly below me (a rather high tide) so I began photographing them.

Killdeer

While photographing the Killdeer I was surprised by a Greater yellowlegs that happened by, and when I looked up I realized that there were a total of four working the beach.  I very rarely see these birds in the county and was very appreciative to be able to obtain photos of them.

Greater Yellowlegs

At some point I realized that a very small bird, a Least sandpiper, was on a rock just below me so I was able to obtain photos of it as well.  (I’m sorely tempted to refer to this as a “Micro yellowlegs”… it’s a very small bird!)

Least Sandpiper

At one point I saw an altercation between three gulls out in the water, and after watching for a couple of minutes one of the gulls flew past me with the prize… a crab!

Winner of Gull Altercation with Prize!

I continued my journey, photographing several Mourning doves on the ground (a rare opportunity here in Skagit County), a female Red-winged blackbird and finally a Lincoln’s sparrow, always a welcome find!

Mourning Doves

Female Red-Winged Blackbird

Lincoln’s Sparrow