Field Notes

It floats like a duck, but the American Coot isn't a duck -- it's a member of the rail family. At the beginning of the breeding season, coots build floating platforms in dense aquatic vegetation -- as many as seven, before the female selects the perfect location for her 8 to 12 eggs. Chicks leave... read more »

A Western Sandpiper stops on the Washington Coast on a late April morning, and refuels on polychaetes, a type of marine worm, before continuing its migration to the Arctic Circle. Photographer Gregg Thompson noted that the sandpiper had to stand w-a-a-a-y on its tiptoes to pull the long worms out... read more »

This delightful Anna's Hummingbird family was photographed by Gregg Thompson. In three weeks, the hatchlings grew to fledglings under the watchful and tireless eye of their mother.The chicks are snug in a tiny, marvelous nest made of bits of leaves, twigs, lichen, bound together and anchored in... read more »

Photographer Gregg Thompson shares these photos of a Belted Kingfisher at the Edmonds Marina in Washington State. Having caught a tidepool sculpin, the kingfisher shows its nimble moves for getting this meal down the hatch!Note the nictitating membrane covering the Belted Kingfisher's eye in this... read more »