An Early Birthday Year Bird

Earlier today I had finished my chores and some computer work I had to get done, and had about half an hour before a meeting in town. That didn't leave me with too much time to go out, but with the sunshine peaking through the clouds I felt like getting outside and doing a little bird-watching. Just two miles from home there is a tiny county park that overlooks the water. Because it's so small, as well as the fact that I naively assume anything seen there I'll be able to see from our marina, I rarely stop there, but today Turn Point County Day Park seemed like the perfect place to go.

By the time I got there it was beautiful out, as the sun had burnt through most of the clouds - an unexpected surprise on what was forecast to be a weekend of clouds and rain, like we've had for much of this week. I sat down on the rocks (there's no where really to walk, it's so tiny!) and decided to see what sort of bird life might come by in the 15 minute I had to spend there.

Immediately I started hearing some killdeer over on the beach in front of some nearby private residences. Somewhat surprisingly, there are only a few good places on the island to look for shorebirds, but I may have to add this park to the list of spots to check during migration.

Out in the cove there were some distant sea ducks. Lifting the binoculars, I saw some surf scoters.....then a pair of white-winged scoters.....and then.....what is that??!.....a female black scoter (year bird 221)!!

My birthday is tomorrow and I was thinking earlier this week how neat it would be to get a year bird on my birthday. They're coming so few and far between now, that I'll certainly take this one even though it's a day early!

After my meeting in town there was a little bit of daylight left, so I went out to Lime Kiln Point State Park to enjoy the sunshine while it lasted. Here's the trail down to the coastline:

I often find myself taking pictures of Lime Kiln Lighthouse when I'm out there, even though I have so many photos of it already. Still, whenever the lighting is nice it's fun to photograph, and I'm always trying to find a slightly different angle:

Despite being chilly in town it was pleasantly mild at the lighthouse so I sat down to enjoy the sight of the sun disappearing behind the clouds over Vancouver Island. A couple flocks of Pacific loons came by while I was watching.