One of my favorite bird photography activities is photographing winter birds at Semiahmoo spit in Blaine, Washington. The narrow spit has Drayton Harbor on one side and Semiahmoo Bay on the other. Both bays are filled with an amazing collection of winter waterfowl and other water birds like grebes, loons and oystercatchers. This post features photographs of winter birds at Semiahmoo spit taken during a visit in February.

Ducks are my favorite waterfowl to photograph. There are 26 duck species regularly found in western Washington state and Semiahmoo is a great place to find many of them. Below is a photo of one of these species, a Surf Scoter, swimming in Drayton Harbor.

Harlequn Ducks are another personal favorite and I almost always find them at Semiahmoo. This photograph of a male Harlequin Duck highlights their amazing feather colors.

Black Oystercatchers are a shorebird found along the shoreline of Semiahmoo spit foraging for marine organisms to spear with their sharp beak. More than 20 of these birds were looking for breakfast on the spit one morning during my visit.

Black Turnstones, another type of shorebird, were also out on the spit in large numbers early in the morning. These birds move very quickly along the shoreline and are a challenge to photograph.

This post shows just a few of the winter birds you can see on Semiahmoo spit. Add this location to your list of must see places for bird watching and photography in northwest Washington.

More of my bird photographs can be found in the Bird Gallery on my PhotoShelter site.