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Trips on Saturday (10/18) to the Edmonds marsh and Lake Ballinger park in nearby Mountlake Terrace yielded a ton of photos as several of my favorite birds were present.
Once again a snipe was present at the marsh across from the #1 viewing platform. Passing birds did not bother it.
Unlike in the past, the snipe was out in the open and remained there for over an hour as it alternated between feeding and resting. Can you find it in this photo?
Competing for attention behind me were Wesley and a friend or two.
Sunday afternoon (10/19) two mystery shorebirds were present at the marsh. Taken with the 5DIII + 500L telephoto + 2x teleconverter using a tripod.
I thought they were dowitchers while I was photographing them, but changed my mind when I got home and studied the photos on the computer. The end of the bill is the wrong shape for a dowitcher and the legs appear black, although that may just be mud. The black legs and white underside is quite distinctive. The bill looks too long for dunlin and western sandpipers.
Nearby killdeer for a size comparison.
A poor inflight shot which does show the color of the underside of the wing.
Update: I have received one vote for the mystery sandpipers being dunlin.
Monday (10/20/14) the mystery sandpipers were present once again at the marsh. So far the majority of votes from local birders who have seen the photos are for dunlin in winter (non-mating) plumage.
The sandpipers took off when something small and fast flew over the marsh. Based on its size, manner of flight and this Sasquatch shot; I think it was a merlin.
A few minutes later I spotted a lesser(?) yellowlegs.
I mentioned that we drove to Pt. Edwards. I spotted a red-tailed hawk perched high in the raptor tree on the fish hatchery grounds as we were driving back down Pine St.
Knowing that red-tails are shy, I pulled over at the bottom of the hill and took these shots from inside my car.
Wednesday afternoon (10/22/14) I saw Janine on Sunset Ave. Janine reported that a pod of orcas was swimming north up the Sound. I got some shots of one breach and one briefly surfacing.
Good idea, Bill...here are a couple of 'warm up' shots from Tuesday. The wilds of my feeder area. Taken from my car window as I was returning from my outing with you and Daren at the marsh. 400 f5.6L and 7D.
I made two trips to the marsh Thursday (10-23-14) looking for autumn/winter migrants. It had rained the day before, so I thought the water level might be higher than usual. I also wanted to check out the marsh further in light of a recent Edmonds City Council decision regarding buffer zone bordering the marsh. http://myedmondsnews.com/2014/10/co...-to-senior-center-negotiations-on-land-lease/
A large flock of American wigeons was in the water at the far south side of the marsh. Once again my quest for an elusive Eurasian wigeon came up empty.
For reasons unknown, an evil minion of the Dark Lord impersonated a hawk and buzzed one of the wigeons.
Things got crowded when the wigeons were joined by a flock of Canada geese.
Four sandpipers were present. They look like the ones I have been seeing for the past week, which have been identified by birders as dunlin.
They came a little closer so I did not have to drag out the tripod and 500L telephoto.
Friday (10/24) was a busy day at Marina Beach. In addition to numerous photos I took of the Pt. Edwards eagles (see eagle thread), I snapped photos of a group (school? pod?) of harbor porpoises hunting in the Sound.
We never saw the porpoises breach. They would remain under water, come up briefly for air, and dive again. We counted at least five.
It can be difficult to distinguish a common murre from a pigeon guillemot in transition plumage. Both birds floating near each other off the fishing pier offered a good comparison.
The common murre diving. Like many diving birds, the murre's rear legs are positioned near the rear of its body. This makes for efficient swimming but awkward walking.
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