On Sunday, November 1, 2015 I set out in the hopes that the Long-billed curlew might again be in the fresh-water pond near the Northern Lights Casino.  On the way there, on West March Point Road, I found the curlew in the middle of the road.  The only other vehicle I encountered on the drive overtook me and spooked the curlew, and it appeared to fly behind the fence surrounding the refinery.

However I made the most of the trip, photographing this Orange-crowned warbler along the way…

I also obtained several interesting photos of Black turnstones feeding in adverse conditions, moving onto and around logs that were being moved by the wind and waves.

And what can offer keener sight than a pair of Bald eagles eyes?  Two pairs of eagle eyes!

In the rain and wind, and at high tide on Saturday morning a friend and I decided to tour March Point to look for interesting shorebirds or waterfowl.  We had seen a Long-billed curlew in the area earlier in the week and hoped that it might be back.  In that respect we were disappointed, but we found a group of three Black turnstones working in the eelgrass that had washed up on the shore.

We continued off of March Point to the Northern Lights area of the Swinomish Reservation and there, in a parking lot, found our lost Long-billed curlew!  We were ecstatic!  We watched the curlew wander around an asphalt parking area for about ten minutes before flushing when a group of gulls flew by.  We lost it for awhile but then were surprised to see it bathing in a fresh water pond almost beside us.  We called the leader of the morning’s Skagit Audubon filed trip and he brought the group over to the casino area and we were all able to view the bird for a considerable time.  I wasn’t nearly as close as when I took the photos earlier in the week on March Point, but the bird was much more active while bathing.  I took 97 photos of the curlew and saved 30… it was very difficult disposing of  the photos.

This is an almost unbelievablely beautiful bird, especially in some of its dynamic poses.  The curlew finally got spooked again and didn’t immediately return to the pond, so we called it quits for the morning.

Before I get back to the yard I want to mention a quick, raptor count at 55mph in drizzle and declining light.  Late (with regard to available light) Monday afternoon my wife and I were returning from Costco and we decided to count raptors on the way home.  We began with the one often perched above the I-5 overpass and were up to nine by the time we reached the Memorial Highway intersection.  By the Swinomish Bridge our tally stood at 13, all presumably Red-tailed hawks.  They’re back!

I’ve ignored the yard from a photography standpoint for the past couple of weeks in favor of expeditions to nearby areas, chiefly March Point.  On Monday, October 26, 2015, I decided to spend some time in the yard… some of the results appear below…

First up, a male Anna’s hummingbird that will presumably be spending the winter with us.  We also have at least one female around the yard.

This is the first Fox sparrow we’ve seen in the yard this season.  We usually only have one, so this is it.

This (apparently) female Ruby-crowned kinglet is a welcome winter visitor.  They were absent all summer but have now returned.  We usually have more Golden-crowned kinglets but I didn’t see a single one Tuesday.

We had quite a few American robins around the yard but little group use of the watercourse until after I had left the yard.

Here’s a handsome male House sparrow which would be a lot more welcome if they weren’t so gregarious.

As in…

And finally, a photo of the bird that perhaps photographs better than all the rest… a Dark-eyed junco of the Oregon race.  The feather detail is absolutely amazing!  For about the eighth or ninth year in a row we also have one of the Slate-colored race, and it made a brief appearance during the day.

I was on my way to Mount Vernon early on the afternoon of October 21, 2015, hoping to encounter an unusual bird or two.  I wasn’t disappointed.  As I drove along the shoreline I was startled to see a Long-billed curlew standing right on the shore, only 20-25 feet from my vehicle.  I stopped and took about a dozen photos (all virtually the same) while the bird eyed me.  I eventually grew tired of the same angle and drove up the road, then circled back to see if the bird might have moved and given me a different angle.  It hadn’t.  It didn’t seem to mind my presence, and I finally left after another set of photos.

I have never seen a Long-billed curlew anywhere near this area, although I seem to remember several years ago that there were reports of three moving around in the fields of the Skagit Flats.  I made several trips searching for them but never found them.  I remember many years ago seeing over a dozen in someone’s manicured yard in one of the south Texas towns, but I felt very fortunate to be able to obtain these photos here.

In composing this blog post I started having misgivings when I checked a reference guide and saw that the Whimbrel was a very similar bird.  So I sent an email to a couple of more knowledgeable friends who provide expert advice.  One of them confirmed that the bird is a Long-billed curlew.

I returned on Thursday, October 22 and again found the curlew about 100 yards (as the proverbial crow flies) from where it had been the previous day.  This brought on another round of photos.

Preening…

“Yawning”…

And while I was photographing the curlew I noticed a small group of about five Black turnstones working the beach…

On Monday, October 19, 2015, I received a call from Linda Fleming at the Skagit Wild Bird Supply (located on Memorial Highway) that they had a leucistic American goldfinch at their feeders.  I dropped what I was doing, grabbed my camera and drove to the store to try to obtain photos.  The bird had left by the time I arrived, but it made three more appearances over the next 2-3 hours and I managed some good photos on one of those visits.

I checked in the next morning (Tuesday) and was told the bird was there again, so I went back over but two hours of observation were fruitless.  The bird has not been seen since mid-morning on Tuesday.