Olympic Peninsula

On a recent trip to Washington state we were lucky to have a little time and perfect weather to re-do one of our favorite hikes along the Olympic Peninsula. This particular route takes the hiker through tight forest for a couple miles before dropping down to the shore where you walk on the rocky beach for a mile to a lagoon where bald eagles tend to hang out. In the past we have been blessed to observe a Northern Spotted Owl for some time in the wooded portion although I was not lucky enough to get any shots of the rare bird. 

 But my favorite part of this hike is actually along the shore where I can see birds that I rarely have the opportunity to view. The first surprise on this trip was the Harlequin Ducks. I have spent countless hours shooting them in Yellowstone over the years so it was a real treat to see them in their winter habitat. Strangely enough, even though the males are the focus of almost every photographer - for obvious reasons - my favorite shot from this group of images is the female claiming her rock, above.

 The lagoon did not disappoint with several eagle sightings. They seemed to be hanging around the nests in the trees so my shots were long distance.

 One of the shore birds I most look forward to seeing is the Oystercatcher. There were two pair hunting for mollusks in the rocks. I find their long black toenails on flesh-colored legs fascinating!

 Another tree bird we saw was the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. They are hard to identify if they are calm as their namesake ruby crown is inconspicuous unless they are disturbed.

The last surprise of the beach hike was this pair of Surf Scoters. The bill of the male is unmistakable and so beautiful!

Animal Cruelty?

 I know it is dangerous to anthropomorphize, but it was almost impossible to watch this scenario play out and not make comparisons to a gang of humans playing the"knockout game" with an unsuspecting victim. I saw this drama take place on Lake McConaughy on our way home from Nebraska.

WARNING: There are some people who will have extreme empathy with the snow goose in this post. I recommend you go no further.

 I noticed the large gathering of bald eagles when we pulled up to the lookout point. On our first trip through most of the baldies were spread out over the lake so I knew that something unusual was taking place. It was a long way off but I was able to follow what was happening through my 400mm lens.

The eagles were taking turns flying in and "punching" the snow goose as they landed. After they took their turn they would often get up and fly away, leading me to believe they were making a sport of the exercise rather than looking for a meal.

After each hit the goose would hang his head and then gradually come back to standing until the next eagle dealt him a blow.

 Over the course of the ten minutes or so I watched I saw at least 20 eagles rotate through the site. The one constant individual in all this was the immature eagle you see directly in front of the snow goose. Maybe the bigger birds were conducting a training session for the youngster on how to capture a goose meal.

I was astonished to see the snow goose get up and fly away after taking multiple hits over 10-15 minutes. But as you can see in this last photo, the immature and an adult eagle were in hot pursuit.

It is probably a good thing that my card registered full at that moment as the ending was not a happy one for the poor goose.