My posts this winter have been somewhat sporadic. There were the three hand/arm surgeries in October (from which I’m still attempting to recover my typing skills), then there has been a considerable amount of rain, heavy overcast and now wind in the interim. Added to these problems is the fact that I just haven’t encountered as many interesting birds as in some past years.
Despite my handicap I recently managed to generate a 14-page vignette for a history project relating to my elementary school, but every key accessed by my ring and little fingers on my right hand still requires considerable slowing. (My worst nightmare is a word like “lollipop” but fortunately that word doesn’t arise in my writings very often!)
I was recently made aware of reports of a Black phoebe that had been seen at the Headquarters Tract of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) on Fir Island. The phoebe was considerably out of range, usually being found only as far north as southern Oregon. We’ve seen many on our travels through CA, AZ and NM.
The WDFW HQ tract on Fir Island is a large piece of land with a vast area of phoebe habitat (they’re almost always found around water) and I had no idea where the bird might be. On Jan 18 I drove around the two parking lots and was on my way out when I spied a small bird fly-catching about 100 feet away. I parked and carefully moved down to Wiley Slough and over the next couple of hours managed a few photos of the phoebe.
On Jan 19 I returned despite windy conditions only to find at least 5-6 (apparently juvenile Barn?) swallows working the area. The phoebe made a couple of brief appearances but was probably discouraged by all of the swallow activity, which, by the way, made it very difficult to track the location of the phoebe. As I was leaving the tract I again found the phoebe and managed more photos, but at a decided greater distance than I would have liked.
While at Wiley Slough waiting for the phoebe I amused myself by photographing a couple of female Buffleheads that sporadically cruised up and down the slough.
