Today after the Nimitz came in and docked at Indian Island I went to Pt
Hudson to see the whitecaps and see what the birds were doing. There is
a spit that curves out from shore that is exposed at low tide but nearly
awash when the tide is in. On that spit at this time of year it is often
possible to see a large number of Brant, occasionally some Oyster
Catchers, the usual contingent of gulls and sundry other visitors. When
I went there this morning there was a sudden mass takeoff, with
everything flying off and around in a big circle. Suspecting a predator,
since there were no dog walkers, likely due to that high wind, I parked
in the RV area, driver's side towards the spit, ran down my window and
waited. Soon, everybody circled back and filled the spit once more. I
had camera with 400mm at the ready, expecting another flight; I was not
disappointed, as a few minutes later, I was getting a burst of images of
massed mixed species, against a background of whitecaps. One larger bird
passed through at a low angle, buzzed the length of sand and rock,
landed on a log. A juvenile baldy, looking more like it was having a
hard time with the power of gusts than hunting. I managed a burst of
shots including wing outstretched when it decided to move on, which it
did, flying low across to Marrowstone island.