Shorebirds were not the only birds I saw on the west side. There were Snow Geese, many 1000’s of Snow Geese but mostly in the distance. Except for one that was very close. I wondered if it was sick or injured. Avian flu is still a concern.
Also pictured, White-crowned Sparrow, Northern Harrier, Belted Kingfisher, and Great Blue Heron.
Willow and I spent a few days in NW Washington earlier this month and we got to visit some nice birding areas. Well, I did. Mostly, she had to wait in the car except for the places where dogs were allowed. We/I watched a lot of shorebirds – mostly Dunlin and Dowitchers, I think. Whether the Dowitchers were Long-billed or Short-billed, I don’t know. I am no shorebird expert. I do enjoy watching them as they fly in their synchronized groups and feeding in the mudflats with their probing bills.
This young Cooper’s Hawk showed up at breakfast time recently. It terrorized the finches for a while but in the end, I was the only one that got breakfast.
Did you see the Northern Lights last night? I had seen predictions of a good show but a partly cloudy sky didn’t leave me too optimistic. I did get a camera and tripod out, just in case. Shortly after dark, a friend texted me an amazing shot of bright red color from her phone! I quickly found my warmest coat and put on some boots and grabbed the setup. I started with a 24-70 mm lens but quickly went inside for the 14-24 mm lens. The light show covered so much of the sky. I longed to be somewhere other than home where my view is cluttered with power lines, homes with all their lights burning and the infernal light of the Winthrop hockey rink. Sigh. Still, it was a great show, til the clouds rolled in.
When I first got outside, the lights were pinkish with green but then turned more orange and red. The show started in the northwest, then moved across the sky to mostly north and then at the same time, they appeared to the east and southeast! Clouds added some real drama to the lights. The last photo shows the clouds illuminated from above by the Aurora and from below by the hockey rink.
Last month I went to Churchill, Manitoba on Hudson Bay. Why? People ask why. It is the self-proclaimed polar bear capital of the world. I have always wanted to see wild polar bears and it seemed like the closest place to do that. I had to swallow my distaste for flying (haven’t flown since before covid) and drive to Vancouver, fly to Winnipeg and then to Churchill. It all went smoothly. I was happy to be in Canada where all the people were very nice.
My guides at Churchill were Michael and Erik Bertelsen, Wild Outdoors Photography Tours. I highly recommend them if you are looking for a tour that concentrates on photographers getting their best shots. Both of them seemed to have intuitive knowledge of where the bears would be and where they were going. I was there for twelve days and I hesitate to say how many images I brought home. I’ve been home for over a week and a half and am still not quite done processing images.
Here is a small sample of polar bear images. There will be more. And also ptarmigan, arctic hare and Snow Buntings. And maybe a few photos of Churchill, itself.
My Everyday Photos 