On new year’s eve my wife and I took advantage of the cold, clear weather to make a pilgrimage to the Nisqually Delta National Wildlife Refuge. Located in South Puget Sound between Tacoma and Olympia, Washington, Nisqually combines 300 acres of salt and freshwater marshes and hosts dozens of migratory waterfowl, raptors, and songbirds. They have been re-designing the trail system during the past two years to better protect birds, so there is limited trail access for another month or two. Still it was a great day to be out observing birds and taking photographs.

While we’ve been coming to Nisqually for about thirty years, I’ve only been (trying to) photograph birds for the past 4-5 years. It’s a lotta fun, but sometimes frustrating. These days I’m using a Canon 7D for sports and birds. All the shots were taken with the Canon 100-400mm f4-5.6 “L” lens with IS. The ISO was 400, and IS was disabled. I’m still experimenting with in-lens IS. Usually I attach my monopod, but on this trip my wife needed it to steady her spotting scope (the incredible Nikon ED-50 Fieldscope), so these shots were all handheld.

One more thing: if you like identifying birds in the field and carry an iPhone, it’s worth purchasing the new Sibley’s Birds app. We also have the older iBird Explorer app, but Sibley’s is newer and a little better in some ways. Both are quite amazing tools, but using the digital bird calls is against the rules in some jurisdictions. I’ve seen how effective they can be first hand, almost scary.

Looking Northwest to Olympic mountains



Bufflehead




Ring-necked Duck



Canadian Geese



Golden-crowned Kinglet



Western Meadowlark (uncommon in Winter)



Eagle Pair



Northern Harrier



Greater Yellowlegs





New Boardwalk Will Open Soon




Raptor Silhouette



Evening Grosbeak (uncommon in Winter)




Sharp Shined Hawk Cleaning Wing




Great Blue Heron



Thanks for looking.

M

[jbrowning]

Great shots Miguel, the boardwalk should be fantastic when it opens up.

Any idea of what the raptor silhouette had in its mouth? Possible a mouse or other rodent?

Thanks
Jim

[Miguel]

Any idea of what the raptor silhouette had in its mouth? Possible a mouse or other rodent?

Thanks, Jim.
Looking at my enlarged outtakes I see a red mushy mass, so it could be a rodent, or parts of a smaller bird, or fish parts from the delta. Wild Kingdom indeed!

M

[montyh]

Enjoyed your photos very much. I think your "Golden-eye" might be a Ring-necked duck, tho.

[Miguel]

Thank you Take-5-JB and Montyh for the proper ID of that second duck.

ME