Last Saturday, my wife and I headed out west to birdwatch. After a successful stop at Bottle Beach State Park for shorebirds, we continued to Westport, @Nick Clayton 's summer stomping grounds.
The harbor was filled with marine birds. Some were using the calm waters to rest, while others were actively feeding. The former included a flock of twenty western grebes that were tucked into Westhaven Cove. They have devilish bright red eyes.
I'm not sure if the next grebe was doing calisthenics or trying to answer a question...
Flocks of lesser scaups
and of surf scoters bobbed on the water as well.
In the second group, several red-necked grebes and a single horned grebe that were actively diving for their lunch.
A common goldeneye came up from one dive with a pholid (eel-like bottom fish) that soon disappeared down its throat.
A small group of harlequin ducks probed around the docks for a meal. Buffleheads were also hoping for a morsel. A pair of pelagic cormorants dove repeatedly in the shallows at the end of the jetty by the harbor mouth.
But the highlight of the day was a peregrine falcon perched at the tip of a concrete and pole jetty. It was perhaps 75 feet away from the walkway. As we watched it cleaned its claws and fluffed up its feathers. But it also “struck a pose” on occasion too. It had a green ID band on its left ankle and a silver ID band on its right. This was the best view that I have every had of a peregrine falcon. I had to restrain myself from taking too many duplicate pictures. And then it was off.
Steve
The harbor was filled with marine birds. Some were using the calm waters to rest, while others were actively feeding. The former included a flock of twenty western grebes that were tucked into Westhaven Cove. They have devilish bright red eyes.
I'm not sure if the next grebe was doing calisthenics or trying to answer a question...
Flocks of lesser scaups
and of surf scoters bobbed on the water as well.
In the second group, several red-necked grebes and a single horned grebe that were actively diving for their lunch.
A common goldeneye came up from one dive with a pholid (eel-like bottom fish) that soon disappeared down its throat.
A small group of harlequin ducks probed around the docks for a meal. Buffleheads were also hoping for a morsel. A pair of pelagic cormorants dove repeatedly in the shallows at the end of the jetty by the harbor mouth.
But the highlight of the day was a peregrine falcon perched at the tip of a concrete and pole jetty. It was perhaps 75 feet away from the walkway. As we watched it cleaned its claws and fluffed up its feathers. But it also “struck a pose” on occasion too. It had a green ID band on its left ankle and a silver ID band on its right. This was the best view that I have every had of a peregrine falcon. I had to restrain myself from taking too many duplicate pictures. And then it was off.
Steve
