I spent considerable time birding Fir Island in January, and most of my focus was on trying to photograph Short-eared owls and Northern harriers at the Rawlins Road Fish and Game Preserve.

When I’m in the area I usually stop at the Snow Goose concession to see what can be coaxed from the brush along their parking area.  On this particular day I obtained photos of Song sparrows (which are quite common along the edge of the parking lot)…

Song Sparrow

and a very cooperative Bewick’s wren, which can be challenging to find and even more challenging to photograph.

Bewick’s Wren

Once at the access area I discovered that it was at a period of low tide.  The resident Great Blue heron there was by this time getting quite used to people and I was able to observe and photograph the bird while it was finding food in the drainage ditch.  It seemed to be mainly searching in the tangled grass along the side of the ditch, and I could see it obtaining light-colored objects from the grass from time to time.  I assumed that it was getting small crustaceans, but in magnifying some of my photos in the camera viewer I could see that the heron was actually retrieving very small fish that had apparently been left in tangled vegetation as the tide receded.

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Despite several forays to the area over a several week period I never did obtain a Short-eared owl photo of the quality I wanted.

Short-Eared Owl

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.