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Brant have been feeding on eel grass at various locations along the Edmonds waterfront in preparation for their spring migration back to the far north. Monday afternoon I photographed a small group at the underwater dive park at Brackett's Landing.
A flock of golden-crowned sparrows visits the fish hatchery every spring. A good place to catch them is the bushes to the left of the driveway leading down to the hatchery. Better hurry before the bushes leaf out.
Wednesday afternoon (3/29/17) I could hear them chirping in the bushes. I finally located a female...
and a male.
Later that afternoon I got an artsy shot from Sunset Ave. of a flock of (Bonaparte's?) gulls flying across Puget Sound.
Spring time avian activities were picking up at the marsh on April Fool's Day. The male red-winged blackbird continues to serenade and chase the ladies.
5DIII + 500L telephoto + 1.4x TC (tripod mounted)
There has been bushtit activity in one of the pine(?) trees that separates the board walk from the doggie daycare. I believe they may be making a nest. Just off the boardwalk a female was digging for larvae buried in the cattail heads. She will probably use cattail fuzz to construct her nest as well.
Sunday afternoon (4/9/17) a male Anna's hummer (Wesley?) was feeding on blossoms bordering the walkway just east of the #2 (main) viewing platform of the Edmonds marsh. I shot these handheld with the 7DII + 100-400L II @ 1/400 and f/8.0. The auto ISO was at 640 and 800. I like to shoot hummers at much faster shutter speeds to slow down their wings and much smaller aperture openings to get more of the surrounding foliage in focus. The dim light precluded that as it is best to avoid four and five digit ISO settings with the 7DII.
I had removed the 1.4x teleconverter as it slows down the auto focus and I was close enough not to need the extra reach. I had to take a few shots with the 100mm end of the zoom to locate the hummer.
Once I had the hummer in my sights, I went to 400mm for the remaining shots.
Two shore birds were at the marsh Tuesday (4-11-17). Last year's bad luck with shore birds at the marsh continued into 2017 with the bright sun creating glare and heats waves that made photography difficult. A birder who also saw the birds later told me that another birder told him that the larger bird was a greater yellowlegs and the smaller bird was a dowitcher of some sort.
A common loon in breeding plumage was in the water below Sunset Ave. Thursday morning (4/13/17). I usually see one or two this time of year sad they are passing through the area.
The brant continue to gather in large numbers to feast on eel grass.
Look overhead for an eagle when they all fly up at once.
I tell birders and photographers on snipe hunts at the marsh that they are most likely seen when the water is just below the bottom of the plants that border the tidal "waterways." Tuesday (4/18) a snipe made a liar of me by coming out in the late afternoon after tide had gone out, exposing the bare mud.
Taken from the usual snipe hunting location off the #1 viewing platform with the 5DIII + 500L telephoto + 1.4x TC, tripod mounted.
A goose is nesting in the marsh on an "island" off the #1 viewing platform. Dangerous territory given the predators in the area plus the possibility of flooding if we get 2-3 days of rain + a high tide.
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