A Busy Time of Day

The herons have found a place that suits their hunting style and their apparent desires to pose for the camera.

Teach a Bird to Fish...

There are plenty of hungry birds out here and many are quite successful fishers.

Successful Fishers

 

It is not surprising that the herons, with their long bills, are successful fishers.

Meanwhile, Back on the Canal Side

This heron is trying to land in what is clearly a good spot. He knows it is good sopt because all his friends are there.

Herons Galore

The roadway by which I stand crosses the stream that all the birds are focused on. On one side is the Hood Canal and on the other is a small pool that the herons seem to like quite alot for their fishing endeavors. the fellow above is using his wings to shade the water’s surface so he can see the fishes underwater better.

Eagles, Herons, and more

My first eagle in flight on this trip. It is not terribly sharp, but it is start.

Penguins and a Great Blue Heron

On the lava near the shore, we see a penguin family. The nearest one is still molting into adult plumage.

Kealia Pond

The stilts are noisy bunch and are really running things in this pond.

Big Beef Creek, Seabeck

Not too far away from Sequim is the village of Seabeck, on the Kitsap Peninsula. Here is where the Big Beef Creek joints the Hood Canal. Every year about this time, there is a small fish, called a midshipman, that runs through here to the canal. This brings out the birds in significant numbers.

Trees and Birds

We stopped to see some large birds in the bare trees beside the road and discovered that at least some of them were great blue herons taking care of nests.

Great Blue Heron

On our way back to beautiful downtown Snohomish, after our house sit ws over, we took a scenic ride to Marrowstone Island. This island sits just east of the Olympic Peninsula between it and Whidbey Island. It is not large and scantily populated. At one of the docks we found a heron sitting on the dock and fishing for lunch.

A Few Birds

Out by the sea we find an Heron resting on a limb. Between the red berries and the particolored lichens on the dead tree, the bird almost feels like an afterthought.

A Visitor in the Fog

It seems that everyone in western Washington loves to go boating. Even this Great Blue Heron is getting into the act by find a perch on a bit of floating debris.

OMG! We Found a Heron

We took a few minutes to visit Possession Point State Park for a look about. I was not expected to see much since we arrived at the middle of the day under a cloudless sky. Much to my surprise was a heron basking in the sunshine.

Great Blue Heron

On the other side of the peninsula from the foggy beach is a much wider beach area and, as you may recall from the earlier visit, there are tide pools there with small creatures in them. But today, were were treated to a Great Blue Heron hunting for lunch.

Bob Heirman Wildlife Park at Thomas' Eddy

I found a new park to check out. It is the Bob Heirman Wildlife Park at Thomas' Eddy (like there are more Bob Heirman Wildlife Parks about). Since it is a sunny day with no clouds, it is a good test of what can be done with no clouds to make it (more) interesting.

Along the way to the park, I found this peaceful bucolic scene.

Bosque del Apache - 2

I have now processed the next patch of images...those from the afternoon of the first day. Went a bit quicker this time since the stack to go through was smaller.

We start with the Great Blue Heron above, just to let you know that there are animals in the reserve other than the Sandhill Cranes.

The Blue Heron in Breeding Plumage

As the sun shines and warms Lummi Island, the wildlife some out for the usual spring time activities.