Long-tailed Duck

Long-tailed Ducks are fairly common migrants and winter residents along the Washington coast and in Puget Sound. I don’t see them very often. They prefer relatively deep, open water. When I retired, I took the time to enter my birding records into eBird. My early records tend to include only birds that were new for me. More recently, eBird includes almost all the birds I see. I checked my Long-tailed Duck records and was surprised to learn that I have only seen this species on seven occasions. The first time was in Maryland on 16 April 1965. The most recent was on 1 February 2022, after reading in eBird that Long-tailed Ducks were being reported at nearby Tolmie State Park. Three birds floated far away, but I found them relatively easily with my new scope. Switching over to my telephoto lens proved somewhat more challenging. Just for the record, the other bird in this image is probably a Pelagic Cormorant.

American Bittern

Sometimes you can stand right in front of an American Bittern and not see it. On 26 January 2022, a fellow birder at the Nisqually national wildlife refuge told us that a bittern was hanging around along the edge of a creek. I looked where he pointed and, only then did I saw something move. The bird is even hard to see in my photos. Bitterns are common, but so elusive that comparatively little is known about bittern biology. Bittern populations are declining as wetlands are destroyed or degraded across North America.

Surf Scoter

A Surf Scoter wished us adieu as we left the Ocean Shore beach on 29 January 2022. Wintering Surf Scoters consume bottom-dwelling invertebrates, including crustaceans, polychaetes, bivalves, herring spawn and gastropods (Anderson et al. 2929). This sea duck is also abundant in our home waters of Puget Sound.

Western Gull

Eagles were not the only crab-eaters along the Ocean Shores Beach on 29 January 2022. As with the eagles, gulls are opportunistic eaters, consuming almost anything edible that they encounter. My guess is that this bird is a Western Gull. Note the relatively dark back, robust bill, and black, white-tipped flight feathers. Beware, however, that in western Washington, Western and Glaucous-winged Gulls hybridize, thus few genetically pure individuals inhabit the region.

Bald Eagle

As Erika and I strolled down the Ocean Shores beach on 29 January 2022, a Bald Eagle walked by us from the opposite direction. Patrolling by foot seems to be a relatively unreported behavior. Eagles are opportunistic feeders—they will take whatever they can find—dead or alive. In this case, the eagle enjoyed a crab dinner.

Purple Shore Crab

Near the jetty at Ocean Shores, Washigton, on 29 January 2022, Erika found a Purple Shore Crab (Hemigrapsus nudus). These carbs are often found under rocks along North America’s west coast. These creatures consume sea lettuce, green algae and dead animals. This crab mates during midwinter—large females may lay more that 30,000 eggs at one time (Slater Museum). Fish, gulls, and scoters all feast on Purple Shore Crabs.

Sanderling

Sanderlings were common sandpiper on our 29 January 2022 beach stroll. These sandpipers are cosmopolitan—although breeding in the Arctic, they can be seen “on almost any sandy beach, anywhere on the planet” (Macwhirter et al. 2020). I enjoyed trying to photograph these little birds as they ran back and forth with the waves and across tidal pools. The problem was that the Sanderlings seldom stood still.

Dunlin

On our 29 January 2022, after the whale, Erika and I continued for another mile. We were disappointed that we did not find many species of birds, but greatly enjoyed our hike. Along the way, we did encounter a few large flocks of Dunlin. We were near high tide, and the birds appeared to be resting. Seeing them bunched together seemed a bit strange. Elsewhere along the Pacific Coast, Dunlin are most often taken by falcons (Peregrines and Merlins) and Short-eared Owls. Each year about 20% of the wintering population are killed (Warnock and Gill 2020). 

You might suppose that gathering in such tight pods would make the Dunlins easier for their predators to find them. Perhaps there is an advantage for there being more eyes to look out for incoming falcons or owls. Another advantage to being in a flock is that, for any given bird, the odds of being captured are much greater if you are the only Dunlin on the beach. In a flock, your odds become far less, like one out of 200 or so. Finally, predators may find it harder to aim at an individual bird in a flock, but may find it easier to pick off a single bird on the beach.

Gray Whale Barnacles

On 29 January 2022, while examining the dead Gray Whale we found at Ocean Shores, Washington,  we sort of got a two for one deal when we found Whale Barnacles on a whale corpse. Cryptolepas rhachianecti is a barnacle often associated with Gray Whales, so these barnacles may belong to that species. Light barnacle infestations probably do whales little or no harm. Whales may use the barnacles as weapons as the cetaceans fight and rub against each other; or they may use the barnacles to fight off attacks by orcas. On the other hand, Gray Whales have been observed trying to dislodge barnacles by rubbing against the sea floor. When Gray Whales have heavy barnacle infestations, the whales often also host Whale Lice, a parsitic crustacean (Wikipedia). 

Gray Whale

On 29 January 2022, Erika and I strolled at Ocean Shores, about 90 minutes west of Olympia. This attempt at a beach walk was our second, the first scuttled two weeks ago by tsunami warnings. This Saturday was perfect, with light overcast and gentle winds. As we arrived at the beach, we spied cars and people. We almost turned and headed the opposite direction. The hubbub turned out to be over a dead Gray Whale, which was in fairly rough condition. Erika paced the length, and counted about 47 feet. In western North America, these whales feed in the summer in the arctic and breed off Baja California. Some are found all year in waters off northern Washington.

Gray Whales feed using baleen, a series of fringed plates that hang from their upper jaws. Usually the whale dives to the sea bed, rolls, and sucks sediments and water into its mouth. As it closes its mouth, water and sediments are spelled through the baleen, trapping various crustaceans and other small marine animals.