Sunrise, sunset.

I set out for Broughton Beach this morning hoping to catch a sweet sunrise, but was immediately disappointed by the amount of fog and haze and clouds.  The dogs and I trudged on anyhow, hoping for at least a wayward shorebird.  Instead we got a giant ridiculous chocolate lab all up in our grills while his owner ran across the beach to come haul him away.  But then I looked up...

Wowzer.  I was not expecting that.  It kept getting brighter and awesomer.

Back up on the bike path I found a kestrel was nibbling on the head of a vole...

On our walk back down the bike path I saw bird zipping around in the sky.  I followed it with my bins until it morphed into a gull and landed on the beach.  Then I realized that next to the gull was the mystery bird so I dragged the dogs down the trail back out onto the mud to investigate.  Turned out to be a Black-bellied Plover!

Around this time a huge swarm of swallows gathered nearby.  Hard to see in the photos, it was pretty impressive in person...

This evening after dinner I thought another walk with the dogs might be nice.  We headed over to the Columbia Slough Trail just in time for the sunset. 

There were a few Greater Yellowlegs mingling with a couple of herons in the slough...

And the sky as I was heading back to the car...

Good times!