The Semiahmoo Spit in Northwest Washington is about as close as you can get to Canada without being in Canada. It’s also a a fantastic place for winter bird watching and photography. Here are some of my recent photos of winter birds at Semiahmoo Spit.

Black Oystercatchers are one of my favorite birds. I specifically went out looking for them during my recent Semiahmoo visit. On the first day I didn’t find any but on the morning I was heading home I was happy to find several Oystercatchers on the beach at Drayton Harbor. It’s hard to photograph these birds because of their all-black bodies but the contrast with their red beak and yellow eyes is wonderful.

The Oystercatcher in the photo above was hanging out on a log in the Semiahmoo Marina.

Surf Scoters are another one of my favorite birds. There were many of these, as well as White-winged Scoters, in Drayton Harbor on the east side of the Semiahmoo spit.

Like Black Oystercatchers, these birds are also hard to photograph because of their all-black bodies. However, the black bodies of male Surf Scoters contrast wonderfully with their orange beaks and the white panel on the back of the head.

There were also a few Kildeer running around on the beach.

My next post will include photos of my favorite duck–the Long-tailed Duck. These ducks can be hard to find but are often found at Semiahmoo, unfortunately normally quite a ways out in the water.