The Lengthening Days: Sunrises of Winter

While there is undoubtedly still some more winter weather between us and the true arrival of spring, it's impossible not to notice the changes that are leading us towards longer days and warmer weather. Last Tuesday afternoon I went for a walk on the docks of Friday Harbor and it was beautiful out - sunny and mild:

We "spring ahead" with daylight savings time in about a month, and already it's not fully dark until after 5:30. Similarly, I notice the changes in the mornings, as it's lighter and lighter when I get up each day. One thing that helped get me through the dark winter mornings over the last few months, however, was being able to witness some pretty stunning sunrises right off our front porch. It was amazing how often the day would dawn in a splash of color, only to turn gray and dismal ten minutes later and remain that way until dusk. I've wanted to post a series of sunrise photos for some time, and now that I'll be seeing fewer of them it seemed like an appropriate time to share some sunrise highlights from November-January.

The best sunrise of the winter, in my humble opinion, was January 11th. I may have posted this photo once before, but it's worth sharing again:

Happy "quickening", everyone!

Leading Lines at English Camp

I've been meaning to mention on my blog that I'm working on a 365 Project this year, where I'm taking a picture every day. While my blog usually focuses on birds, whales, and other things in the natural world, I'm aiming to improve my all-around photography by taking pictures of all sorts of subjects. My dad is also doing a 365 Project, and we're coming up with themes for certain weeks to help inspire us to look at things differently. This week's theme, chosen by my dad, was leading lines - strong lines in a photo's composition that help guide the viewer's eye through the image. (You can see my whole 365 project here, and my dad's here - click on the button that looks like a grid of squares between "previous" and "next" to see a calendar view.)

I made leading lines that theme of my photo walk through British Camp this afternoon, and it certainly succeeded in getting me to look at things differently! The walk I've done dozens of times took twice as long as normal as I stopped to take pictures of all sorts of "lines" I've never really noticed before. Here are some of the results:

Of course I wasn't just taking pictures of lines - I was also looking at birds! Highlights were hearing a pileated woodpecker (106) and then seeing a Townsend's solitaire (107). The solitaire wasn't only a year bird, but a new species for me in San Juan County! He's pretty camouflaged, but here he is:

To 100 and Beyond: A Great Shorebird Day

After work on Friday, we went for a hike at the Friday Harbor Labs. Down along the shoreline a friend showed us a little spot we hadn't visited before, where under a creek flowing over the edge of a rocky cliff there are some maidenhair ferns, the first time I've ever seen this species of fern on the island. Nearby, there were numerous little orange snails in the seaweed, another sight I haven't ever come across on the island. Looking in my intertidal book it looks like there are several likely options for what it could be, so I won't speculate here as to the species:

On our walk back, we heard some strange noises that I thought sounded suspiciously owl-like. Sure enough, a moment later we got a brief glimpse of a barred owl (100), not a bad species to take the one hundredth spot on the year bird list. 

Yesterday I went down to Fourth of July Beach to do a COASST bird survey, and in the meantime hoped I would also see a shorebird species or two. Did I ever hit the jackpot! There were five shorebird species there: black-bellied plover (101), sanderling (102), dunlin (103), black turnstone (104), and surfbird (105). I saw a small flock of the first three species, then just before I left another larger flock flew in with more plovers, dunlin, and the turnstones and surfbirds. I was even able to get a photo with all five year birds in the same frame!

Blue = dunlin, orange = black turnstone, yellow = sanderling, green = surfbird, pink = black-bellied plover

This one shows four of them a little better - dunlin on the left with a black turnstone in front, then a surfbird by itself, then a black-bellied plover with another dunlin behind it:

I also noticed in my photos that one of the dunlin had a couple of bands on the legs (green and red on the left leg of the left dunlin). I wonder what this bird's story is?

Here's a black-bellied plover with a flock of dunlin:

On my way home the rain returned, but I couldn't resist pulling over to take a portrait of this guy:

97, 98, 99.....

As we close in on the end of January (already?!), the year list is closing in on 100 species....here's an update.....

While walking home one day before the snow melted, in addition to seeing another pair of Anna's hummingbirds, I also saw my first golden-crowned kinglets (94) of the year. Upon getting home, I could also see that the dark-eyed juncos had been very active on my deck all day:

While making breakfast on Saturday morning, we spotted a small flock of bushtits (95) out the window - the first time I've ever seen this species from the marina. It was a super windy day, but a report of J-Pod on the west side of San Juan Island inspired me to head out to Lime Kiln Point State Park. I missed the whales, but was greeted by more than a hundred varied thrushes in the parking lot - an amazing sight! There have been a lot of varied thrushes and robins all over the island (more than in past winters, I think), and there has been discussion on the local birding listserv about all the varied thrush activity. Seeing so many in one place on Saturday allowed some photo ops of what can sometimes be a very unapproachable bird:

While admiring the thrushes I also spotted a female hairy woodpecker (96). Down along the water's edge there was a lot of wave action. The bird activity was minimal, but I did find some mew gulls and four white-winged scoters (97) riding the surf:

The wind continued, but there was more bird activity to be seen at a friend's house in the middle of the island on Sunday. In addition to the juncos, towhees, and purple finches at her feeders we saw a pair of trumpter swans, a pair of bald eagles, and a great blue heron - all from her yard! Then, right before it got dark, three California quail (98) came through, too.

There have been some more pretty sunrises lately, and while I had the camera out to photograph one, a flock of geese flew by, allowing for the following snapshot to be taken:

While waiting for an appointment in town, I was watching more robins and varied thrushes out the window when I also saw a downy woodpecker (99) in the trees. Nice!

Hoping to find bird #100, I made a short excursion out to Sportsman Lake yesterday, and on the way had to stop and see Mona, our resident camel on the island.

No #100 yet, but with a week left til the end of the month I'm assuming with a little effort it will happen - maybe this weekend? I wonder what the hundredth species will be? Last year it was the common raven, but that's already on the list this year!

Winter Storm Watch

We've had several days of varying amounts of snow, hail, and wind, but the worst of the most recent winter storm watch undoubtedly hit today. First thing this morning I put some fresh seeds on top of the snow and it didn't take me long to have some birds on the porch even before it really got light out. I can only imagining spending a night like last night outside, let alone when you're that small! By the way, that's not fog in the background, but mostly blowing snow:

Here are a few other wintery scenes from around the marina, later in the afternoon after it got light out and some more snow had fallen:

Snow pattern on a roof

After failing to get all the way home from work in my low-rider, two wheel drive car (I walked the last quarter-mile), I was amazing at all the bird activity. Juncos, chickadees, song sparrows, nuthatches. I saw my first Anna's hummingbird (93) of the year - though somewhat surprisingly not at the feeder I hung out this morning and refilled a couple of times throughout the day as it turned to slush. I imagine it must be hard to find food out there as a hummingbird on a day like this, though our overwintering Anna's eat sap and insects in addition to flower nectar.

I was glad I stocked up on suet before the storm hit, and so was this nuthatch. Look at that tongue visible in his beak!

There was activity in the water, too. A river otter came by. This pied-billed grebe was here this morning and back in the afternoon - I only ever see them in our marina when their preferred freshwater habitat freezes over.

A group of four hooded mergansers (2 males and 2 females) were fishing in the same area as the grebe. When they took flight I had the camera ready, resulting in this photo that I like a lot:

The belted kingfisher was around, too, though instead of taking one of her usual more prominent perches she found a place to sit that was a little more out of the wind:

We walked to town to get a few groceries, and because of the snow I took my camera, too. I was happy I did when I saw this dog patiently waiting outside the store:

It will be interesting to see what the next few days are like! I don't mind a little bit of this winter weather, with the exception of having to worry about getting to work and back each day!

Boundary Bay Snowy Owls

For a couple weeks I've been reading with envy the reports coming out of Boundary Bay, British Columbia where there have been between 20 and 30 snowy owls hanging out. After seeing photos from a couple of friends who went up there, I couldn't take it anymore, and knew I had to find a way to go. This Saturday presented the perfect opportunity, right before the snowy winter storm was projected to hit the west coast.

A ferry that filled up unexpectedly early first thing Saturday morning almost threw the plans into jeopardy, but some calculations involving available daylight hours and travel time indicated that the trip would still be possible so I had to go for it. Throughout the day, you could practically watch the snow level falling towards sea level, starting with the ferry ride and the partially snow-covered Turtleback Mountain on Orcas Island:

The drive north up I5 was beautiful. The ground and trees were dusted with snow, but the pavement was clear and dry. After a slight wait at the border, I arrived at Boundary Bay (near Delta, BC) around 3 in the afternoon. I was wondering if I would be able to find the place easily, but I needn't have worried - all the owl watchers were a spectacle themselves! I had to park about a quarter mile from the trailhead:

I didn't have to walk too far to see my first snowy owl (year bird 91) - then my second, third, and fourth. Many were perched right along the driftwood berm about 50 yards off the trail:

Many were in close, and others were scattered out across the marsh. The densest congregation was this group of eight on a single log:

It was amazing to me how unconcerned the owls were about all the human activity. As I said, some were only about 50 yards off the trail, and this was the activity on the trail - people, dogs, children, bikes, and even horses (on the left)!

It's pretty cool to see so many people so excited about birds, though it's not surprising, because these snowy owls are a pretty charismatic bunch. For the most part, people were very respectful, as well, although despite the signs asking everyone to respect the owls space, some people felt it necessary to tramp out into the sensitive wetlands in an attempt to get that perfect shot. Some patience is really all that was needed, however, because some of the owls were already right there!

For the most part, the owls were just sleeping or resting. They were mostly motionless, only occasionally turning a head, opening their eyes, or letting out a yawn:

I spent most of my time near one group of four. Two of them were preening and a little bit more active. This one, likely an immature due to the amount of dark barring, even took a short flight to go from the ground up to this perch:

One, probably an adult, stood up and was moving around, providing a nice look at the fully feathered legs and feet which help keep the owls warm in their Arctic home:

The weather was really perfect, though after an hour my fingers were freezing despite my gloves. Looking at the clouds to the west, I had to wait just a little bit longer for the late afternoon sun to peak out again before sunset. I'm glad I did, because that's when I got my favorite photos.

Lots of other photographers were waiting for this moment, too:

While the snowy owls were undoubtedly the highlight - I conservatively counted at least 21 - there were other impressive sights, too. I saw about a dozen bald eagles, five harriers, and a short-eared owl there along with some mixed species flocks of sparrows and a variety of duck species. The landscape in either direction was stunning, looking one direction over the bay and the other towards the city of Vancouver and the distant snow-capped mountains.

 

Walking back to my car, I had to pause to take this photo of two immature bald eagles against the clouds lit up by the sunset. Perched on the wires underneath them was my second year bird - a flock of Brewer's blackbirds (92).

It ended up being a very successful trip. I made it back across the border, down I5 before the weather hit, and in line for the last ferry home with plenty of time to spare. I'm sure glad I made the effort to go - the ferry rides and border crossings can be a bit of a deterrent when it comes to visiting places that really aren't that far away. What an awesome phenomenon, made all that more impressive because it occurs right in the outskirts of downtown Vancouver!