November 26, 2017
Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest
It’s winter, which means stormy weather in the Pacific Northwest — windy and wet. Prevailing westerly winds blast onshore, curling around the Olympic mountains, funneling through our narrow waterways, building waves that break on our usually quiet protected beaches.
Gulls, an eagle and a redtail hawk soared above on this day, wheeling in the wind. In the surf, gulls danced from wavetop to wavetop. Down on the beach a mixed flock of shorebirds hopped around on the driftwood and seawrack, dodging waves, hunting down aquatic bugs and periwinkles stirred up by the surf.
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Here’s my first try taking video using my current camera (a commenter in a previous Bucket explained the easy way to do it...thank you!)
Some thoughts on the video, which is not too great...
It looked better when I uploaded it to my computer. The transition to Youtube wasn’t what I expected. Anybody else have that problem?
Problems I see, beyond the general lossiness:
1) Camera not steady. It’s hard to hold yourself steady, much less a camera, when leaning against a 30 knot wind. The gusts make it even harder. Possible solutions: Lie down on ground or brace self/camera on nearby driftwood.
2) Fuzzy, low resolution. I think this is may be partly due to zooming the image way up, to get a closer view of the birds. That also amplifies any jiggling. Possible solution: Get closer if possible. That’s tricky when it’s wet driftwood down there, not to mention spooking the birds.
3) Dark. Considering this was recorded at 1:15pm a month before the winter solstice, I can’t really find a brighter time of day. In winter, with a heavy overcast, it’s just gonna be dark at 48° N. Possible mitigation: Film at low zoom. A bigger field of view might allow more light in.
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts about taking good video.
Anyway, at least you can get a sense of what this stormy shore is like, and how shorebirds negotiate such a changing setting. Imagine yourself getting buffeted by wind, salt spray whipping against your face, and oh yeah, it’s a little chilly.
There are birds in the video too. There are! Plural.
However unless they’re flying, these birds are so cryptically colored and patterned they disappear in the tumult of driftwood and surf. More typically these are on rocks offshore, but when the sea gets stormy like this they’ll come right onto beaches.
Who are they? There are actually two kinds of shorebirds in that flock, which I didn’t realize until I looked closely at the still photos: Black Turnstones and Surfbirds. They are very similar in appearance and size. They’re also almost the same in where they breed (Alaska/Yukon) and spend the winter (west coast by the sea), also on what they feed (amphipods, snails, barnacles, mussels) and how (flipping over seaweed or rocks). In fact the only real difference I’ve been able to ascertain is that Surfbirds eat shellfish whole while often Turnstones pry the soft parts out.
Close up, we can see Surfbirds have yellow on their lower beak, and a white eye ring, while the turnstone head is all black. At least right now, in nonbreeding plumage. Turnstones have a darker hue. Genders are the same for both species.
When they’re flying, it’s easy to tell them apart: Surfbirds have a dark back with a single white rump patch. Turnstones have a white patch on their back as well as rump.
It isn’t just carelessness by me or bad luck that all the flying birds in these photos — and many of the perched ones — are facing away from us, so we’re looking at their backs. There’s a reason for it, and birds are smart. They know that they get much better lift when flying into the wind. The wind is blowing straight at us on this day. It takes less energy for one of these guys to jump up off the driftwood into the wind and be flying. I note they turn into the wind when they land too, for better control.
A couple of more tests of your ability to see these cryptically colored birds...how many in this photo below?
(spoiler: answer is 5)
and the title pic? (poll below for that one)
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Your nature news today?
Tips on taking nature videos?
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