One of my favorite things to do when I’m out and about is bird-watching. I have a 1960s Roger Tory Peterson Field Guide to Western Birds, and I keep a “life list” in the back, checking off the birds I have seen. I especially like traveling, and seeing birds that we don’t have here on the West Coast. We’ve been to Alaska and Hawaii, and the East Coast of the US. We also took a trip to Israel in 2007, and I made sure to buy a bird book so I could identify unusual birds that I saw. But, to start with, we get some pretty interesting birds right here in our back yard in Everett, Washington.
This little bandit is a Townsend’s Warbler, and he comes by most winters, to eat at our suet feeder.
This is a Varied Thrush, basically a Robin in different clothing. That’s an insect in his beak-they are carnivores (remember the Robin and his worm?).
A bit farther from home, I caught this White-crowned Sparrow at the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge on the Olympic Peninsula last year. He sat very still for me to take his picture.
I saw this flotilla of Pelicans off the deck of the Crystal Symphony in San Francisco before our cruise to Hawaii in 2018. A perfect “V”.
Then, when we got to Hawaii, I found this Brazilian Cardinal on the grass at Pearl Harbor. That red cockade really attracts attention.
Back in Honolulu, I captured this pretty pair of Egrets.
This is, I think, my best “catch” on that trip to Hawaii. On the way home, I saw this Masked Booby flying off the side of the ship, hunting for fish. This bird is rarely found on land, and it’s a real treat to see one at sea.
And last, but definitely not least, in Juneau, Alaska in 2016, I caught this Bald Eagle, master of all he surveyed. Actually, Bald Eagles are quite plentiful here in the Pacific Northwest, and we see them cruising over Silver Lake by our house.
Bird-watching is a valuable pastime, something you can do any time, just about anywhere.
