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People responding to a query I made in Tweeters, the statewide bird spotting mailing list, have said that the previous photos contain both western and least sandpipers.
I returned to the marsh Thursday (7/3) for what I thought might be better lighting conditions without the heat waves rising off the mudflats.
I believe this is a western sandpiper.....
and this is a least sandpiper. It was in the small, circular mudflat near the boardwalk between the #1 and #2 viewing platforms.
The eagle was back at its perch on a telephone pole beside the railroad tracks at the west end of the marsh. I went into the boat repair yard on Admiral Way in order to photograph it with the sun behind me.
Heermann's gulls have returned for the summer and will stay until October.
Monday evening (7/7) I was at the marsh about an hour before sunset hoping to catch any sandpipers present in better light. Shortly after I set up the super telephoto combo of 7D + 500L + 1.4 teleconverter, the eagle which has been perching on the telephone poles next to the railroad tracks for the past two weeks made a series of low swoops along Willow Creek at the south side of the marsh. I assume it was looking for an evening meal of ducks or ducklings.
The sunlight was coming in from a low angle and the eagle was in & out of the shadows, which made for difficult lighting. I was amazed that I could follow its flight with the super telephoto setup.
The eagle came up empty and after a brief stop on a tree by the creek, resumed its perch on the telephone pole.
A short time later, all of the shore birds in the marsh took off. I immediately started scanning for a predator. The eagle was still on its perch, so it had to be something else.
I caught odd movement to the west of the railroad tracks near the marina.
The eagle caught the movement as well, and took off in the hopes of stealing a meal.
The eagle was unsuccessful and returned to its perch.
The above shots were taken with the 5DIII + 100-400L telephoto zoom. I think the mystery predator was a peregrine falcon. I have seen them in the vicinity in the past and have photographed them flying across the marsh with captured prey.
Tweeters, an e-mail list for Washington state birders, has reported possible sightings of a pectoral sandpiper at the Edmonds marsh. Due to the lighting conditions at the marsh during the day, my sandpiper photos have been very poor. Monday morning (7/7) I thought I saw two different types of sandpipers at the marsh.
I returned later that evening and got some better shots of a sandpiper that appeared much larger than a least sandpiper, which is considerably smaller than a killdeer.
Taken with the 7D + 500L + 1.4x teleconverter, tripod mounted.
Same sandpiper? Photos of it near a killdeer for size comparison.
One method of distinguishing similar appearing sandpipers is the color of their legs. Unfortunately, they all have black legs after wading in the mud of the marsh during low tide.
More mystery sandpipers from the marsh. Taken about an hour before sunset on Tuesday (7/8) with the 5DIII + 500L + 1.4x teleconverter, tripod mounted.
I get blase about killdeers, as they are year round residents of the marsh. It is, however, helpful to include them in photos of sandpipers as a comparative size reference.
Note the longer bills of the two sandpipers on the right. The head:bill ratio is a helpful tool in identifying sandpipers.
Later that afternoon I was back at the marsh looking for sandpapers. Although the tide had come in and filled the mudflats with water, I found a flock off the #3 viewing platform. Unfortunately I was looking directly into the sun, which made good photos nearly impossible.
Thursday afternoon (7/10) two yellowlegs circled the marsh, touched down for about a minute, then took off again. Once again, photography conditions were horrible with the heat waves radiating off the water.
Two sandpiper shots from Thursday. I wish we would get an overcast day so that I could get some good shots of the sandpipers, which won't hang around forever.
I hope the sandpipers keep coming after the clouds finally arrive. Someone from Tweeters identified the two yellowlegs as greater yellowlegs based on the size and shape of their bills.
it is that time of the month and year when we get extremely high and low tides along Puget Sound.
The water in the marsh was very high Sunday evening (7/13), which chased out the sandpipers. The two resident geese families enjoyed the opportunity to swim around the marsh without having to worry about the coyote.
