It’s winter, and the photographic conditions in the yard are something akin to dismal.  However from time to time I give it a try anyway.  Such was the case on Mon, 3/3/2014 when I huddled under our generous overhanging eave to keep my camera out of the mist and photographed some of the birds in the yard.

My objective was to get photos of a couple of our rarer birds, the Slate-colored Dark-eyed junco…

and the Varied thrush.

We also had visits from a Spotted towhee…

and a Song sparrow …

And here is one more view of the Slate-colored junco, a species that has been visiting our yard for at least the past six winters.  While I haven’t seen them at the same time, I think we probably have two that visit the yard due to different coloring.  (See 2/27/2014 post.)

I decided to spend a little time outside this afternoon (3/6/2014) with the thought that the strong, southerly winds might bring in our first Rufous hummingbird.  That’s exactly what happened!

As soon as I sat down I saw a back-lit hummingbird in our dead pine tree, but I couldn’t see any color.  It flew while I was still trying to focus on it, but a minute or two later there was a male Rufous hummingbird visiting a couple of blooming bushes and chasing a couple of chickadees around the yard.  It landed on a small fence but disappeared from the yard a minute or so later, and I never saw it return.

But for the record, this is a photo of our first Rufous hummingbird of the season!  There will be many more, and much better photos to come!

On Friday afternoon (2/28/2014) the wind was blowing but it was a bright, sunny afternoon and I hated to waste it.  It was a very good thing I didn’t because I had a rather unique birding/photography experience.

I began my excursion by stopping by the Cap Sante Marina where I spied a Common loon lurking rather close to the northwest shore of the marina.  I stopped, gathered my camera equipment and by the time I got over to the water the loon had disappeared.  Since they often spend a considerable time diving I wasn’t surprised, but as I gazed across some grass on the shore the sunlight glinted off of something where there shouldn’t have been anything reflective.  Further investigation lead me to the loon… at this point about three feet onto the shore!  This is the first time I have ever seen a loon out of water!

I wasted no time in taking many photographs and, while the loon seemed interested in me, it definitely wasn’t afraid at this point.  I finally left it on the shore and went on my way, hoping that it wasn’t sick or injured.

I next birded March Point, practicing my “skeet shooting” on the gulls that were enjoying the wind.  I probably took 30-40 photographs of gulls in flight, discarding many because the bright sun cast shadows on various parts of the gulls anatomy… but I still retained almost 20 photographs after processing.  And I have to say, I’m getting pretty good at photographing birds in flight!

After finding little else to photograph on March Point other than a pair of Dark-eyed juncos (Oregon race) I headed back home… via the Cap Sante Marina.  As I drove by the southeast side of the marina I spotted a Common loon, and again went stalking with my camera equipment.  There is no doubt in my mind that this was the same loon… it allowed me to approach to within about 20′ of it and never took any evasive action.  During the course of about half an hour it dove and preened virtually beside me.  I was encouraged that this was the same loon and that it was healthy as I saw it diving and twice bringing food back to the surface.

As a veteran of loon-stalking in the marina over the years, I can say that this was indeed atypical behavior from what I have observed in the past!

On Monday, Feb 24 (the day it rained all day!) I drove by the Cap Sante Marina on the way home.  I saw the recently-returned Pied-billed grebe in the northwest corner of the marina (it’s been showing up for years!) and it appeared that it might have made landfall near a small mound of grass just offshore.  It was difficult for me to see its exact location in the rain but I decided to return with my camera as I don’t think I’ve ever photographed a grebe out of the water.  I need not have worried, because when I returned with my camera a short time later it was back out in the main body of water.

I then noticed what I at first thought was a gull (remember it was raining) in the same area, but on closer examination I discovered that it was a Canvasback (duck).  I took a couple of photos in miserable conditions just because I had never seen or photographed a Canvasback in Skagit County, but ended up discarding the photos for ones I was to take the following day.

And while I was sitting in a small gazebo to photograph the duck I received a call from a friend who works at Skagit Wild Bird, located on Memorial Highway on the outskirts of Mount Vernon.  He told me that a male Western tanager had been hanging around the store that morning.  Since I was already out I decided to drive to Skagit Wild Bird despite the weather.  I spent a couple of miserable hours in the front of my car, and then in the back of my SUV with the hatchback raised… all to no avail as far as the tanager was concerned.  However I did obtain what is probably my best-ever photo of a Eurasian Collared dove.

The next day (Tue, Feb 25) dawned bright and sunny so after my morning walk I retrieved my camera and headed out.  The Canvasback was back at the marina and in a much more accessible location and I took almost 50 photos from a relatively short distance.  About the only position I didn’t photograph the bird was upside down!

Canvasback initiating its dive.

I then drove to Skagit Wild Bird to see if the tanager might still be there.  After a moderate wait I was rewarded with the Western tanager making a trip to the suet feeder.  (In the interest of brevity, I’m leaving out some of the interesting details.)  While I didn’t manage photos of the bird taken in my immediate vicinity, I was able to photograph the bird at some distance.  They are not great photos, but considering that this is a male Western Tanager who is here in the month of February, I decided I should post one anyway.

And while I’m at it, I should mention that Skagit Wild Bird has some great people working there and carries a very wide inventory of bird feeders and supplies!

Those of you who follow my blog may remember that on several occasions I’ve mentioned a Slate-colored Dark-eyed junco that we’ve seen in the yard for each of the past 5-6 winters.  This winter has been a little different for a couple of reasons.  First of all, I’m fairly certain that we’ve had more than one.  In past years I thought the identification was certain, with the bird having both a dark head and gray body with no hint of chestnut.  This winter I’m certain I’ve seen two different ones… one matching the markings of those in prior years but in addition one that is lighter-colored.  And I finally obtained a photo of the lighter one that’s been visiting the yard this winter.

Here’s another photo of what I believe to be the same bird, and it exhibits some limited chestnut color in this photo.  (According to my Sibley’s, this color exists to a minor extent in the Slate-colored junco, but the darker bird has little or none of the chestnut color.)

There appears to be a very large variation in the color of the Oregon race, with the females and 1st year adults being substantially paler.  Here, for comparison, is a male of the Oregon race…

While I’m at it, I’m going to throw in a photo of a male Downy woodpecker which, along with a female, have recently returned to the suet feeder in our yard.

And finally, the same day I made yet another excursion to March Point.  I was watching a gull when it found something interesting on the beach.  It appeared to be already opened, so it didn’t need to drop the object on the rocks.  However it became wary of me and retreated to the water with its prize.