On the last day of our coastal getaway, we decided to hit all our favorite spots one last time. We started at the park, where I managed to pin down the notoriously camera-shy Belted Kingfisher.
Just in case you missed it, here’s Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
I have to note the bird that wove the whole trip together, the Double-crested Cormorant. I saw them on all four days, and counted at least 65 individuals each time we went to the wildlife refuge. But they really took center stage on this final day.
Especially this one young cormorant. He posed for an entire photoshoot, and he’s obviously been waiting for his moment to shine, so please appreciate him.
I even managed to sneak around in order to get the sunshine on his face.
I had taken my last snaps of this cormorant and we were getting ready to leave when this Great Blue Heron flew in with an obnoxious honk and landed at the very top of a conifer. He wasn’t too pleased that we were there, and glared for a couple minutes before flying off, but it was a cool way to wrap up our time at the park.
Next we headed to the wildlife refuge. Now on day two, the Mute Swans had their moment. And it wasn’t just because I managed to get photos of them–I counted over thirty of these massive birds around the lagoon. I’d never seen so many swans at one time in my life. But that number rose on the last day, when I counted over forty swans!
I’m still trying to figure out what was going on; Mute Swans don’t migrate, and they tend to stay on their territory year-round. So the only plausible explanation is that some kind of swan convention was in progress.
And this one swan was noteworthy because of his weird bill. I wonder what happened to this guy–was he in a fight? Did he get in some kind of accident? I’ll never know, but he did seem to be faring fine with his injuries, so I’m pretty sure he’ll be okay.
Now, I’m not exaggerating when I say that I think this was the best vacation I’ve ever had. And I wasn’t the only one who thought so; while sitting on an outlook before leaving the refuge, my family debated how we could get rich enough to move to the coast.
I’ll let you know if our plan works out
After that, we hit our last stop before heading home: the beach. A few more Semipalmated Plovers were there to send me off, and it felt a little bit like salt in the wound (get it?) as our Coastal Getaway ended.
