February 15, 2024, provided a good day for photography. I ended with 278 photos (82 after processing!) but of only eight species which greatly lessened the time I needed for processing. My photographic activities began shortly after noon when on my way back home from my second ‘coffee’ meeting of the morning. I drove by the Cap Sante Marina as is my usual habit. The tide was out which meant that waterfowl would be farther away from my access area but I noted a pair of Common goldeneyes very near the shore, and it appeared that the female might be sleeping. I hurried home, retrieved my camera and returned to the marina. There I found that the goldeneyes had drifted further away but I was now in the hunt. I spent over an hour attempting to better my position for photos, but the waterfowl were not unaware of my presence.

While at the marina I also obtained photos of a Common loon, which made only a very brief appearance, a Killdeer and a crow.

Here is a photo of the male and female goldeneyes…

This is a photo of the male…

And another photo of the male with a small fish it managed to catch…

On the way back home I drove through the neighborhood and discovered that there were Varied thrushes in and around the wetland. I saw one male and three females but was unable to get as close as I would have liked.

My best discovery of the day was a male Anna’s hummingbird that was on the same exact perch as last year! I spent significant time watching and photographing it. Again, I wasn’t as close to it as I would have liked to have been but the bird exhibited several episodes of stretching which I managed to photograph.

And here the hummingbird is displaying its gorget in all its glory!

Now that fI know where the bird is hanging out I’m hopeful that I might be able to return and get a little closer!