Monthly Archives: February 2021
2021 SNOW!
It should come as no surprise to most of the country that we have experienced snow here in Anacortes in mid-February. It has snowed here almost continuously from the night of Feb 12-13 until late in the afternoon of February 14. I always relish the opportunity to photograph birds in the snow because it makes for a different environment and the birds behave differently. I have been feeding birds during this time, mostly on the ground (snow) but also from a suet feeder and a chickadee feeder. I had hoped for visits from a rarer bird or two (a neighbor has had a Varied thrush and Red-breasted sapsucker) but my yard is filled with the same birds. So here are some of our residents… in the snow!
This first photo is, of course, of a male Dark-eyed junco of the Oregon race.
This photo is of the same species and sex, but is the leucistic bird that has been with us for a couple of months now. He comes with camouflage that is suddenly appropriate for the weather!
Continuing with the sparrow family, Spotted towhees… this first image is a male and the second image probably a female. (It’s sometimes a subtle difference between the sexes!)
A Golden-crowned sparrow. I used to think I could tell the difference between the sexes of this species in the winter but I’ve given up the idea that I ever had that skill! If I had to guess, I would say that this first bird is probably a male and the second bird either a female or a first-year bird.
This is a Song sparrow. These birds aren’t very gregarious and I’ve only ever counted two in the yard at one time, but most of the time I can spot only one.
When I first moved to the Pacific Northwest (20 years ago from Texas) I had a very difficult time telling the Song and Fox species apart. That is no longer the case. This is a Fox sparrow…
This final image is of a female Bushtit. It’s been a while since I last obtained a decent Bushtit photo and this one isn’t great, but since these birds can be difficult to photograph and this photo clearly reveals the sex of the bird, I decided to post it.
From a photography standpoint, the snow can offer special challenges. If it’s actively snowing the whiteness of the flakes can appear to be aberrations in the bird’s plumage or obscure details such as eyes or beaks. But the snow often offers opportunities to get closer to the birds and to obtain a different background for photos. The white dot above the Bushtit is probably a falling snowflake (which I could remove using Lightroom software) but you can imagine the effort if there was a lot of snow falling!
Another Outing
I managed to squeeze out a walk in Washington Park before a light morning rain began on February 2 (Groundhog Day). By noon the weather looked more promising so I set out on an excursion to Fir Island. My first stop was in the neighborhood where I found this male Anna’s hummingbird in the middle of what we locals refer to as the Cap Sante Wetland. It’s easier to photograph them in the yard, but I was pleasantly surprised to find this one ‘in the wild’! The hummingbird was busy defending a perceived territory but took a break for some preening.
Not far away this Bewick’s wren popped up from the undergrowth and, after surveying the area from a handy perch, began singing… can spring be far behind?
On to Fir Island. This stoic Great Blue heron allowed me to stop and take photos without undue alarm.
I found two Black oystercatchers combing the rocky beach on the east side of March’s Point.
Also on March’s Point I found two juvenile Bald eagles sitting in a couple of trees. One flew, but the other hopped to a snag that made for good photography. The bird was wet from the light rain that had recently fallen and was apparently drying its feathers by lifting its wings and letting the breeze pass under its wings and next to its body. The pose made for great photography, and this was probably my closest approach to a juvenile eagle in the wild.
I continued towards Fir Island but just before reaching Pleasant Ridge I encountered a field full of Snow geese next to Calhoun Road. There was a LOT of activity, giving me an excellent opportunity to practice my skeet photography skills. I had been disappointed in previous photos I had taken of flying birds with my (relatively new) 500mm lens so I was anxious to have an opportunity to better evaluate the lens. I probably took over 100 photos of the geese and wouldn’t know the results until I got back home and processed them on my computer. As is usually the case with photographing flying birds, you end up throwing out a lot of photos for a myriad of reasons, but I got some fairly good photos, some of which are displayed below .