Saturday morning I kicked my butt out of bed to go on another motorless morning adventure. I was dragging but once I got outside on my bike and saw the skies, well, it all became worthwhile...
I rode by Broughton Beach but didn't see anything too exciting. At Vanport Wetlands, without a scope, I couldn't ID any shorebirds at all- except a Greater Yellowlegs and that was by call. Force Lake had frogs and Green Herons, Smith Lake had a goose with a busted wing. So pretty much all my main stops were failures.
From Smith Lake I took the bike path down to the Columbia Slough path, hoping the slough had dried up enough to make some mud. Indeed it had. I stopped at a bridge to look at the mud below and it was offering up a nice little mix of shorebirds. Ok, so maybe it's not the best mudflat in town, but this one offered the unique opportunity to stand over the birds and at a reasonable distance...
Oh and the birds in the shade looked like they were walking on the moon. If the moon were watery.
Western Sandpiper, yes?
I spent a lot of time trying to pick out a Semipalmated Sandpiper but no success. There were a few Spotted Sandpipers mucking about...
A Greater Yellowlegs joined the party for a bit...
Least & Western Sandpipers
And here's the cellphone shot of the view from the bridge I was standing on...
So yeah, a neat little spot to keep an eye on right now... Hopefully I'll make it back soon. Good times!
I rode by Broughton Beach but didn't see anything too exciting. At Vanport Wetlands, without a scope, I couldn't ID any shorebirds at all- except a Greater Yellowlegs and that was by call. Force Lake had frogs and Green Herons, Smith Lake had a goose with a busted wing. So pretty much all my main stops were failures.
From Smith Lake I took the bike path down to the Columbia Slough path, hoping the slough had dried up enough to make some mud. Indeed it had. I stopped at a bridge to look at the mud below and it was offering up a nice little mix of shorebirds. Ok, so maybe it's not the best mudflat in town, but this one offered the unique opportunity to stand over the birds and at a reasonable distance...
Oh and the birds in the shade looked like they were walking on the moon. If the moon were watery.
I spent a lot of time trying to pick out a Semipalmated Sandpiper but no success. There were a few Spotted Sandpipers mucking about...
A Greater Yellowlegs joined the party for a bit...
And here's the cellphone shot of the view from the bridge I was standing on...
So yeah, a neat little spot to keep an eye on right now... Hopefully I'll make it back soon. Good times!
Hi Jen. Lovely views of the waders from a totally different perspective.
ReplyDeleteVery nice to see them from overhead, I agree it has the look of a moonscape~...
ReplyDeleteWhat Mtn is that in your last photo...its a great SHOT!
Those last two shots are awesome!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures, I like the frog too!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could get more excited about shorebirds. What kind of birder am I?! Love the sunrise and scenery shots. It pays to get up early sometimes!
ReplyDelete