PNWPhotos.com a friendly and growing community of photographers with an interest in the Pacific Northwest region.
We feature a Photography Discussion Forum and Pacific Northwest Photo Gallery. It's a fun and friendly place to talk with other photographers, ask questions, share you knowledge, view and post photos and more!
The tide Saturday (4/27) was -2 feet, so I took a walk south from the off leash dog park towards Pt. Wells. Such low tides are my only opportunities to look for the Pt. Wells bald eagle pair.
All shots were taken handheld with my 7D + 100-400L telephoto zoom.
To give you an idea how low the tide was, this is the piling off Marina Park where I have photographed eagles sitting and eating fish. Most of the time it is surrounded by water.
Savannah sparrow.
Evil minon of the Dark Lord eating a gunnel, a small fish often mistaken for an eel.
A bald eagle carrying a horned grebe approached from Pt. Wells
The eagle flew back and forth along the bluff several times looking for a place to perch. The blood stains from the grebe on its white tail feathers helped me identify it later.
The metal containers are 50 gallon drums with the ends removed. As the clammers dig deeper into the sand after a geoduck, the drum is inserted into the hole to keep it from collapsing.
A great blue heron hunting for fish in the shallow water between sand bars.
A second eagle was on the pilings near Pt. Wells. I assumed it was one of the Pt. Wells pair.
The juvie took off and flew south along the bluff.
As I walked back north, I saw that the first eagle had returned to patrol the bodies of water which form between the sand bars during very low tides. The fish and crabs which get trapped in the shallow water make easy pickings for the eagles.
I knew it was the first eagle from its blood-stained tail feathers.
The eagle would alternate circling and perching on trees. Although it had recently captured a grebe, the eagle was still very intent on hunting. This leads me to speculate that it might be feeding a nestling.
It is nearly impossible for me to get up early any more. Low tide was around 12:40pm that day. I started my walk at 11:50am, the time of my first photo. It also helps that the waterfront is only about a ten minute drive through town from my house.
A number of area birders identified the mystery bird as a Say's phoebe. It is rarely seen west of the Cascades and is not even listed in my local bird book.
