|
New Reach
I had never taken that many pictures on the trail at the Carty Unit. Most of the trail winds through a small forest beside wetlands, so most of the birds are small songbirds that were usually too far away for pictures. When I added a 500mm lens to my collection, it brought many of the smaller birds within reach. Birds such as the little black-capped chickadee, seen here on a moss-draped branch on a wet winter day.
|
|
Rare & Not Rare
Double-crested cormorants aren't exactly rare at Ridgefield but they aren't exactly common either. What is rare is to get such a nice close view, this one had just surfaced from fishing the waters of Bower Slough. The eyes of the cormorant are one of my favorites in all the bird kingdom.
|
|
Cold Confusion
A sudden cold snap froze most of the water at the refuge, leaving this cormorant seemingly a bit confused. I've seen cormorants swimming and flying on many occasions but have never see one walk. At first I thought it's unusual behavior might be an indication that it was sick, but after it walked onto the ice for a while I had a second thought — it was probably struggling to figure out just what this cold surface was doing on top of its nice channel of water, and trying to devise a way to get underneath and go fishing.
|
These pictures are all of the red-shafted variety, the most common race here in the Northwest.
|
The Modern Moustache
The moustache has fallen out of favor for the modern man but remains a staple of the modern red-shafted flicker. The males' is glorious red but females settle for brown. This malar stripe varies among flicker races — it's black in the eastern yellow-shafted males, for example.
|
|
Baby Please Don't Go
I had been at Ridgefield for hours hoping to get some good pictures of the common yellowthroats that were migrating through but hadn't been successful. I was getting ready to leave when this male goldfinch and a female flew into the cattails beside the car.
I only had time for a few quick pictures of the male before a territorial red-winged blackbird flew in to chase off the intruders. Happy to get a look at the golfinches that had returned for the spring, I decided to stick around a while longer and was eventually rewarded with some nice looks at a male yellowthroat as well. |
|
I'm Golden
Winter in the Northwest has flashes of orange from year-round residents like robins and towhees and visitors like varied thrushes. Spring brings flashes of yellow from visitors like yellow-headed blackbirds and common yellowthroats, as well as summer residents like the American goldfinch.
We used to get many goldfinches at our feeders when we lived near Salem, but get only the occasional goldfinch in Portland, so it's always a delight to see them wherever I can find them. I came across this male one spring morning in a patch of teasel along the auto tour. Alas, teasel isn't native to the States but was brought over by European settlers. Teasel is a favorite of the European goldfinch, so it's not surprising that it is also a favorite of their American cousins. |
|
|
|
Migration
In mid-May I had my first chance to photograph black-headed grosbeaks as they stopped at Ridgefield during migration. I got some nice pictures of females, it's not typical I get good pictures of an animal on my first try so I was pretty pleased, although disappointed not to get the male in the group that stayed out of sight.
But the very next week, at the end of a 13-hour day at the refuge, this male popped into a bush I had been watching and gave me a couple of poses as it dined on the bush's berries. I spent as much time at Ridgefield as I could as you never know how long an opportunity will last during migration. Particularly true this time, as I didn't see a single grosbeak the very next day, nor the next week, and with the berries mostly gone I knew they weren't likely coming back. |
|
Bee Eater
Scrub jays do not belong to the class of birds known as bee-eaters that specialize in eating bees, but nonetheless this one had a strong predilection for them. A colony of bees had taken up residence in a cavity of this tree, and the jay used a nearby rock as a launching off point to fly in to snare one of the bees before returning to the rock to eat it.
Not much later the colony split and sent a swarm off to establish a new colony, so now the jay can dine out when the mood strikes. |
|
Out of Position
I had watched this male kingfisher work the waters of Long Lake for quite some time, usually at a distance, when it suddenly flew to a perch closer to the car. I hadn't expected it to come so close so from my position my only choice was to shoot it against the white cloudy sky. I later shifted my position a bit to place the perch against some distant trees but over the next couple of days the kingfisher never returned to the perch.
Although if I had been originally been at the optimal location, I wouldn't have had a shot at the river otters who showed up as the same time as the kingfisher, so settling for the high-key shot was a happy compromise. |
|
Kingfisher
In this dark and dying dayI know he sits and watches. |
|
The Wet Fisher
It rained, then poured. The king and I, we waited.
|
|
V
On my first trip around the auto tour at Ridgefield on a foggy fall morning, a small flock of yellow-ish birds flew beside the car but my brain couldn't pick up the ID. Eventually the rusty gears kicked into motion and I realized they were western meadowlarks. By this time they were a bit further off, but I was able to make an environmental portrait of this one on the teasel. Part of my confusion may have been rust, but part may have been that I'm not sure I've seen them in nonbreeding plumage before. The brown 'V' that separates the yellow of its chin and chest will turn a conspicuous dark black in the spring and through the breeding season, so I was thrown for a bit.
The meadowlark is the state bird of Oregon, selected by schoolchildren in 1927, although I believe there have been efforts to change it. While I have seen them in Oregon, this one is from Washington, whose state bird is a different kind of yellow, the American goldfinch. |
|
Not Just the Bad Bugs
When I think of birds eating insects, the insects I envision are those that annoy or destroy, but when I saw this nuthatch with a ladybug in its beak I was reminded that some species eat a wide variety of insects, be they "good" or be they "bad".
|
|
Disguise
Some birds go to great lengths to discourage predators from raiding their nests. This white-breasted nuthatch went the route of disguise, using a grub as a fake mustache.
|
|
Rails are elusive birds, and despite many visits to Ridgefield over a handful of years, I had only caught fleeting glimpses of rails on one or two occasions. So I was a bit dumbfounded in the spring of 2005 to not only see a rail, but to see a pair near the road. They were busy hunting at the edge of the marsh and courting each other, so I was able to stay in my car and watch them to my hearts content. I found them in this spot on the next visit as well, but after that they resumed their secretive lifestyle. |
|
Everybody's Having Babies
Spring brings change to Ridgefield, from the arrival of migrating birds to the mating of both new arrivals and old residents. For animals that nest on the refuge, it also brings the arrival of new life and the frenetic energy required to feed those hungry mouths.
On this particular day it seemed like everybody was having babies, including Canada geese, wood ducks, song sparrows, killdeer, red-winged blackbirds, muskrats, cottontails, and even long-tailed weasels. One of my favorite youngsters belonged to a pair of Virginia rails that had their brood with them near Ridgefield's Kiwa Trail. I had never seen rail chicks before and was surprised to see that they were little black fuzzballs. Their little wings are just stubs at this point so they can't yet fly, instead they followed mom and dad around on their two long legs. |
|
Robin Redbreast Works on His Nest
Robins are often considered a harbinger of spring, even though they are common in all four seasons across much of the United States. Robins are around in the winter where I live now in Oregon so they aren't a sign of spring here, but I did at least photograph this male in the spring. With robins, the females do most of the actual nest building, but the males may help by bringing in material like the dried grasses this one carries.
|
|
Stately Bird
When I was a kid, we lived for a while in Michigan where the state bird is the robin. It is also the state bird of Connecticut and Wisconsin, even though I never lived there. The robin is a familiar bird across most of North America but our robin is not the same as the robin of Europe.
|
|
A Glimpse
I don't like the look of the out-of-focus plants in the foreground, but I was still pretty excited to see this sora, as I've rarely seen them in my life, much less had a chance to photograph one. And it was on a morning in which I had started to regret getting out of bed before sunrise, as not much had been visible.
But then I came across some cedar waxwings, had a cottontail hop up to me and sniff my boots, and then when I got to the observation blind, had a female ruddy duck to the front, a nestful of baby coots also to the front, an occasional Virginia rail off to the left, and this sora that popped into view for just a second on my right. And then a Wilson's snipe also came out briefly to forage. It wasn't a great situation for pictures but it was fun seeing so many shy creatures busting out all around me. |
|
A Sight for Sora Eyes
The arrival of the new year brought an unexpected surprise in early 2010, as while settled in to watch bitterns I had the good fortune to see two shy birds of the marsh, Virginia rails and sora. I see rails a little more often than sora so I was particularly pleased to see my little yellow-beaked friend. I rarely had a chance for pictures, as they were moving quickly and trying their best to stay out of sight, but this one finally gave me a chance on January 2nd.
I had a moment of trepidation as I saw a sora and bittern walking towards each other, unaware, and wasn't sure if the bittern would try to catch the smaller bird or not. The sora ducked into the grasses deeper in the marsh and when the bittern came past, it never strayed from searching for voles and salamanders along the shore. |
|
Starlings at Dawn
Most birders in the United States dislike starlings because they aren't native but have spread everywhere, displacing native birds in their wake. Many birders and non-birders alike dislike starlings because they sometimes gather in large, noisy flocks.
I came across this small flock early one morning on the auto tour before the sun lit them up. I went for the silhouette since I had the strong graphical lines of the tree branches and birds. |
|
Orange in Winter
Hike the Oaks-to-Wetlands trail at the Carty Unit at any time of the year and you're likely to see two kinds of orange-feathered birds: American robins and spotted towhees. During the winter, however, we're blessed with another: the varied thrush.
While towhees are often seen on the ground feeding or in the brush, varied thrushes are usually in the trees like their more famous thrush cousin, the robin. There's no confusing the two, though, even with a cursory glance. The varied thrush has a dark line running across its face and through its eye. Even young birds (such as the one shown here) have the distinctive eyeline, though it is much more faded in the youngsters. |
There are two main races of yellow-rumped warblers, Audubon's and Myrtle.
|
Quiet Quigley
The quiet beauty of a female yellow-rumped warbler (Audubon's) on a spring afternoon at South Quigley Lake.
|
|
Wax Tips
I arrived early one morning in late May at Ridgefield and almost immediately regretted the decision. While the auto tour normally provides a good glimpse of waterfowl and other animals in the marshes, by late May the grass has grown so high that you can't see into most of the marshes.
I stopped by the observation blind and figured I might as well take a short look before continuing on, and stopped in my tracks as soon as I got out of the car: a small flock of waxwings was in a berry tree at the edge of the parking area. I witnessed for the first time a mated pair passing a berry back and forth. I had the wrong lens on for pictures, and decided to watch the display rather than try for a picture. This is one of the birds that was sitting back in the middle of the tree. You can see the waxy yellow tips on the bird's tail, but not the waxy red tips of the wing that give the bird its name. I may not have gotten any pictures of the berry display, but nevertheless I was thankful I had gotten out of bed that morning after all. |
|
Down the Hatch!
This spring when the waxwings came migrating through, I specifically watched for them in the bushes and trees with ripened berries. Waxwings are famous for passing berries between each other, but this berry's destiny was straight down the hatch.
|
|
Waxwing on White
I saw this waxwing in Washington but my first encounter with these social birds was years ago and across the country in the hills of West Virginia. While hiking in Pipestem State Park, I came across one small tree that had fruited out. The waxwings flew from the surrounding trees, grabbed their berries, and flew back to their perches. They didn't seem bothered by my presence so I stood near their flight path and listened as they whizzed by and by and by my head as the world shrank to just a boy and his birds.
|
|
A Flash of Red
While photographing a bee swarm at Ridgefield, off in the distance there was a quick flash of red. When I looked up this male pileated woodpecker was hammering into the soft wood, allowing a few quick shots before flying off into the distance.
|
|
Little Brown Birds
It took me a while to warm up to the little brown birds in general and house wrens in particular. But this spring I had a few nice encounters with house wrens and now I'm hooked. This wren gave me a spectacular view of its long tail feathers when it flew onto a rotten tree branch to preen.
|
|
Built-in Porch
An oak gall provides a natural perch for a house wren as it carries debris out of its nest. While the wren's little beak is fine for excavating debris, it's not much use at excavating the cavity itself. Like many forest residents, this house wren used a pre-existing cavity drilled by woodpeckers. I took many pictures but most came out blurry thanks to the frenetic pace with which the little bird hurled the debris from its new home.
|
|
Yellowthroat
One of the birds I look forward to photographing in the spring is the common yellowthroat. While I saw them a lot this year and photographed them a fair amount as well, I didn't come away with what I hoped for and thought my chances were over for the year. But on Memorial Day I finally got a look I wanted when this male yellowthroat popped up onto a snag at Long Lake.
|
|
Bright As Yellow
I got up at 5am on this morning expecting to photograph yellow-headed blackbirds but ended up with yellow not from blackbirds but yellowthroats and goldfinches.
I watched the yellowthroats off-and-on over the course of about 10 hours, they were mostly staying out of sight and when they did pop up to sing, the little yellow birds were chased away by other yellowthroats or red-winged blackbirds. The yellowthroats were active around the refuge but it was only towards the end of my stay that I finally got some nice pictures, such as this male in a patch of cattails. |
|
Gold Reward
The yellowthroats weren't staying still for very long, so even if I got a clear view of one I had to move quickly. This male flew into the middle of the cattails, not up so high as to draw the ire of the blackbirds, but only stayed for a few seconds. His eye was obscured by the cattail in front nearly the entire time, but he stuck his head out far enough for me to get one picture before he flew off.
|
|
Friend or Foe?
This male yellowthroat had flown down near the ground and was mostly obscured by my old nemesis, the grasses that grow so tall during the spring that they block many of the views around the auto tour. I already had some nice pictures of the yellowthroat more in the open, so I tried to turn my old foe to my advantage. I used the shallowest depth of field to blur out the surrounding plants and highlight the brilliant yellow and black and white of the yellowthroat peeking out from his surroundings.
Yellowthroats aren't exactly designed for camoflage. |
