Before I get to photographs I want to mention that our first confirmed Rufous hummingbird sighting of the year occurred on March 21.  It was a female.  I think we had seen two other females in the yard about a week previously but were unable to confirm whether they were Annas or Rufous.  However I never noticed a female Anna’s wintering-over so I suspect the Rufous females were actually here around 3/15.  And the very next day after the female confirmation, a male Rufous showed up in the yard but hung around only briefly.  (Sorry, no photos yet.)

These birds will provide several months of photo opportunities here in the yard, and it won’t be long before my blog switches back to concentrating on birds that visit the yard.

If you feed hummingbirds, now is about the time to put out feeders!  The Rufous hummingbirds will be showing up soon.  A good indicator of their arrival is the blooming of the Red currants.

With the good weather we had today I decided to do a little birding in the Samish Flats this afternoon.  My first tour was around March Point where I found this male Eurasian wigeon mixed in with a large, but strung-out (not on drugs!) group of American wigeons.  I returned a couple of hours later and he was still in the same area.  This is my personal best sighting of the Eurasian wigeon and my first photographs.

Male Eurasian Wigeon

I went back to the Cap Sante Marina on Sunday (3/3/2013) afternoon and found what was probably the same Common Loon I photographed Friday.  Enough said!

I’ve noticed for the past week or so that there has been a loon in the north basin of the Cap Sante Marina.  Despite breezy conditions on the morning of March 1 I discovered a loon back in the marina and went down with my camera to attempt to photograph it.  I found upon reaching the marina that there were actually at least three and possibly four loons in the marina and I was able to photograph two of them, one transitioning to its spectacular breeding plumage.

The first loon I encountered was in non-breeding plumage.  I was disappointed and thought that I had seen one in breeding plumage.  In the past I have found these birds very wary, but in this case this one kept drifting towards me… against the wind.  That indicated that it was deliberately paddling in my direction… a very rare occurrence, in my opinion.  Almost the entire time I observed this bird it was preening.

Common Loon in non-breeding plumage

From time to time when these birds are preening they rise from the water and flex their wings.  I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph the birds during this maneuver.

Common loon during preening

Common loon during preening

Common Loon on the hunt

 Another activity I have observed on many occasions is apparently a hunt for food prior to diving.  Loons seem to be one species of waterfowl that exhibit this behavior.  In this photo the loon is swimming but inserts its head into the water, apparently looking for a good place to dive.

Here’s the other Common loon, this one transitioning into breeding plumage.  I think it has a little way to go and hope to get photos once they acquire full breeding plumage but before they leave the marina.

Common Loon in transitioning to breeding plumage

And finally, here is the loon in breeding plumage having a rest.  It twists its head to the rear and rests it on its back.  I was close enough to the loon to see that it wasn’t closing its eyes, or at least not closing the one facing me.

Common Loon in breeding plumage in apparent resting mode

This loon over time also came almost directly towards me, getting just about as close as the other one had.  I’ve photographed loons in the marina many times, but I think these two were about as tolerant of human presence as any I’ve encountered.

I had been looking forward to a little sun on the morning of Wednesday, February 20, 2013. My plan was to spend the first part of the day, forecast to be the best part of the day, looking for birds and related photographic opportunities. The weather didn’t cooperate so I took a nap instead (always an optional strategy) but elected to try for a little photography in the afternoon, even though the weather wasn’t any better. Once out I experienced a little intermittent rain but it didn’t keep me from my appointed rounds.

The first part of my journey took me around March Point where I again encountered (presumably) the same Black oystercatcher I had seen on the weekend. (See previous post.) On this day I had my 1.7x tele-extender mounted with my 200-400mm lens which gave me the opportunity to enlarge images substantially. Even though the oystercatcher was further from me on this day I think I obtained better photos.

Black Oystercatcher

Next up was a cooperative Red-tailed hawk… perched in a tree!  It’s discouraging to have to photograph them on lines or poles, but this one sat while I took several photographs.

Red-tailed Hawk

My next find, just off Memorial Highway was another male American kestrel. I seem to have had quite an involvement with that bird over the past couple of months… first at the Bosque del Apache NWR (see prior post) and last weekend above the Samish Flats (also a prior post). But that didn’t stop me from taking more photographs of this cooperative bird.

Male American Kestrel

On the way back home I found that the ducks (Northern Pintails and Mallards) had moved closer to shore around March Point despite an ebbing tide, so aided by the tele-extender I managed photos of the ‘quackers’.

Male Northern Pintail

Male Mallard

Just as I was about ready to leave the last group of ducks I saw some movement in some bushes along a pullout from the road. I tried ‘pishing’ and for a moment thought I was going to be joined in my car by a Ruby-crowned kinglet. Unfortunately I had my shutter speed set too high, but my Adobe Lightroom software allowed me to significantly lighten the photographs to where they seem very acceptable to me. The kinglet is a difficult bird to photograph (due to size, movement and usual habitat) and I was thrilled to be able to get such good photos. On several occasions the bird came so close to my car that I was unable to focus on it.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet
(If you look carefully you can see a portion of its ruby crown!)

I sometimes worry that fate has set up one of these days to be my last so that I can go out in a blaze of glory. But I seem to keep hanging in there for more photos, even on unpromising days!

Waving to you a fond farewell for now… thanks for frequenting my blog!