March 28, 2014

Duration of Visit: 9:15am-1:30pm
Weather: It was overcast and rain on and off throughout the day.

Map of Union Bay for Reference: CLICK HERE

Species count was 38: Robin, Spotted Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown Creeper, American Goldfinch, Tree Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Double-crested Cormorant, Bushtit, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, American Coot, Virgina Rail, Bald Eagle, Cooper's Hawk, American Crow, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Bufflehead, Pied-billed Grebe, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bewick's Wren, Marsh Wren, Northern Flicker, Song Sparrow, Anna's Hummingbird, Canada Goose, European Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Gadwall, GBH, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Downy Woodpecker, House Finch, Lincoln's Sparrow, Killdeer

Notes from the day:

I had more company again this week as my friend Kevin from Alderleaf joined me on my walk. I've never before seen Yesler swamp teeming with as much activity as I did today. I had come into the day with low expectations, but the rain ceased temporarily when we entered the swamp trail and song was coming from almost every direction. We were graced by the creepers, a downy woodpecker, American goldfinches, bushtits and a host of others. We felt like we'd seen 25 species before we even got out of the cove.

Towards the fence line trail, we witnessed a northern flicker excavating a nest atop a tall snag. Before I could get my camera focused in, the female flew to a nearby big leaf maple and called until her mate joined her. They sat next to one another high up in the tree for a short time until the male flew on top of the female and mated with her. We decided to move along and give them a little privacy.

Once we were out of the cove, the first species that I notice running around the meadow is a killdeer. I had only seen them either near the Main Pond or by the Dime Lot in the past so this was pretty cool. It was feeding along with the robins and let us get fairly close. I was told by a fellow birder that a pair had been seen recently getting ready to nest near the dime lot. Here's a picture of the one in the meadow.

The red flowering currants near Wedding Rock were absolutely beautiful today and the hummingbirds and bushtits were in agreement since they were all over them. In a nearby shrub, I found my first Lincoln sparrow of the year. I'm pretty sure that it's been in the area for awhile after speaking with another birder, but I've somehow never noticed it. Here is a pic:

Shoveler's pond was light on activity today, especially since it was raining almost every time I walked near it. I did however find a recently deceased male northern shoveler along the water's edge. In the picture below, you can see the inside of the bill lined with hundreds of lamellae which filter out seeds and invertebrates. This comb like filter enables the shoveler to get to invertebrates hiding within dense vegetation, especially in the winter months when food is scarce. This is why they can over-winter in this area when other dabblers cannot.

Due to the rain, the swallows were all flying low out over the lake catching insects hovering above the water's surface. There seem to be more and more arriving every week. Once the rain stopped for a short time in the afternoon, they followed the insects to back over the meadow and we were able to get a closer look. We mainly saw violet-green swallows today and I wasn't able to detect any activity at the tree swallow nest that I had discovered up high in a snag near Shoveler's Pond last week.

Normally, I've been seeing the resident Cooper's hawk every other week or so, but it's almost always been while it's in flight. It also is almost always coming to or from an area out past the shell house where I believe it may be nesting. This week it was flew in from the north and took a perch high in a deciduous stand above the Yard Pond, where it preened and casually checked out the activity below to the north. I'm not sure what it was looking at but I'll be sure to comb over the area when I'm back next week and I have a little more time.

The wood ducks were nowhere to be seen this week and we checked just about everywhere. We even walked up the road past the shell house to get some good looks near the beaver dam. I couldn't get near the water since there were some Canada geese and gadwalls feeding near the entrance and I didn't want to invade their space. I presume maybe the wood ducks have either begun nesting or they were hiding out from the rain.

One last thing that I wanted to note before I wrap up is that both the lagoon and cove islands were almost completely flooded over today. Usually these islands are key resting areas for waterfowl causing there to be much greater activity within the inland ponds and large puddle accumulations along covered portions of the trails. I always enjoy watching birds adapt to ever changing conditions and do it with relative ease. We could probably learn a few things from them.

March 21, 2014

Duration of Visit: 10am-2pm
Weather: It was cool out, especially along the lake but it was a relatively clear and sunny day overall.

Map of Union Bay for Reference: CLICK HERE

Species count was 38: Robin, Spotted Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown Creeper, American Goldfinch, Tree Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Double-crested Cormorant, Bushtit, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, American Coot, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, American Crow, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Bufflehead, Pied-billed Grebe, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bewick's Wren, Marsh Wren, Northern Flicker, Song Sparrow, Anna's Hummingbird, Wood Duck, Canada Goose, European Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Gadwall, GBH, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hooded Merganser, Hairy Woodpecker, House Finch

Notes from the day:

I was very fortunate to have one of my good friends and birding mentors along with me for my walk today, Fil Tkaczyk. Fil is an amazing naturalist who has been observing wildlife here at Union Bay for ovar a decade. I truly feel that I learn exponentially more when he's along with me, and that held true again today.

Gadwalls were being rather aggressive with one another in the cove. Aside from a few teals, they were about the only ones there in the morning. Sometimes the male would not only chase another male, but another female as well. I believe this was an attempt at forced copulation. Unpaired males of dabbling ducks are known to force copulation with an already paired female. This explains why the aggressive behavior was being displayed towards both sexes.

Nesting was the theme of the day again. A pair of Canada geese were nesting on a small patch of land near the Mud Island. The female was sitting on the nest while the male stood, or should I say swam, guard nearby. We got a chance to see a crow get a little too close to the nest and the male lowered it's head and flew directly at the crow until it got to within a far enough distance. A pair of buffleheads swam a little too close as well but they didn't get the same kind of reaction. It makes sense since the crows are nest raiders and the buffleheads are fish eaters. The Canada geese know this too.

I also got to witness the Canada geese reacting to a dog approaching along the trail. They let us get pretty close to them, but once the dog came close they began alarming all in unison as a group with their necks in a stiff position. As soon as the dog passed, they became relaxed again and continued feeding. I used to always get upset at people who allow their dogs off leash along the main trail, but now I love it because I get to see all the different alarms from the bird species as the dog scampers amongst the different habitats.

There was a GBH sitting with the cormorants in the middle of the lagoon. I've never seen one here before but it must have been good hunting today. I saw his head go into striking position a few times while I was looking on. It's amazing how quickly they can move their heads.

The violet-green swallows were flying everywhere again today, except they weren't as high up. I only saw a few tree swallows and one of them was building a nest up on a tall snag near Shoveler's Pond. Last season I remember them nesting on a snag near the Southwest Pond but this tree is no longer there. I was wondering what new spot that they were going to pick this year and it looks as if my question has been answered.

Four red-tailed hawks were spotted by both Fil and I throughout the day. The most interesting encounter occurred on the walk back to the car at the end of the day. As we approached the greenhouse from Wedding Rock, we noticed a pair of red-tailed hawks attempting to perform a courtship ritual where the male lowers his talons while in flight and drops from below the female to touch her in the back. They happened to fly over an area which must have been home to a group of crows because they began to mob and dive bomb in large numbers. They escorted the pair a comfortable distance away before they ceased their pursuit. It was a pretty cool experience.

Shoveler's were out in full force on the Southwest Pond and they were being very aggressive towards one another. The males would swim close to one another and bob their head up and down slowly. I believe I even witnessed what looked to be a forced copulation similar to what I saw happen earlier in the day with the gadwalls. I wonder why this particular behavior is more common amongst the dabblers?

The ducks and coots were concentrated into one unusually large group in the middle of the lake today. Maybe they've noticed it's safer in large numbers given the juvenile eagle has been hunting them lately. I didn't get to witness any hunting attempts but I did see both a juvenile and an adult hovering far over the lake today.

For the first time this year, I heard the bushtits singing for extended periods of time. Usually they quickly pass through an area companion calling with one another along the way. Today, they sat high up in the trees along of the shore of Yesler Cove and sang away.

Fil had seen a Wilson's snipe in the meadow between the Main Pond and the Southwest Pond a few years back but after throuroughly searching for one the last few weeks in that same area, I had been unsuccessful in finding one. While I didn't see or hear one today, Fil pointed out a snipe track along the main trail running alongside the meadow. Snipes apparently like to hang out in tall grass mounds near puddles roughly 1” in depth looking for worms. We searched a few different similar habitats but wasn't able to find a snipe today. Now that I know one is currently in the area, I'll look a little harder within the coming weeks.

The recurring theme again today was courting, mating and nesting. It's that time of year and it's super exciting. You should get over to Union Bay if you can. Things are heating up.

March 15, 2014

Duration of Visit: 8:45am-2:45pm
Weather: Light showers periodically throughout the day but mostly it was just overcast. The sun popped out a few times and while it wasn't the greatest day, I can't complain.

Map of Union Bay for Reference: CLICK HERE

Species count was 37: Golden-crowned Sparrow, Robin, Spotted Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown Creeper, American Goldfinch, Tree Swallow, Violet-green Swallow, Double-crested Cormorant, Bushtit, Virginia Rail, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, American Coot, Bald Eagle, Pileated Woodpecker, American Crow, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Bufflehead, Pied-billed Grebe, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Bewick's Wren, Marsh Wren, Northern Flicker, Song Sparrow, Anna's Hummingbird, Wood Duck, Canada Goose, European Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Gadwall, GBH, Golden-crowned Kinglet

Notes from the day:

Nesting and territorial aggression were the predominant behaviors of the week. The three birds that I observed displaying these behaviors the most were Anna's hummingbirds, red-winged blackbirds and robins. In regards to nesting, the Anna's and red-winged blackbirds were primarily just collecting nesting material from various sources, while the robins seemed to nearly have their nests finished. I saw two nearly completed nests throughout the day and both had a lone female robin perched near them just a few feet away. I know that both males and females partake in the nest building so maybe in both instances the males were out gathering more materials while the females were standing guard? Another thing that I noticed was the trees that they were in were bare of foliage, so I don't expect them to lay their first clutch of the year until the leaves can provide them adequate cover from predators - possibly another month or so. Or maybe they will actually lay before the leaves pop? I'll keep my eye out the next couple of weeks. Here is a picture of one of the females standing guard:

Crows are typically very abundant at Union Bay and even though I see hundreds each time that I'm here, I always find their behavior to be the most intriguing of all of the birds. This week, they were gathered along the main trail near Shoveler's Pond and actually let me walk into the center of their gathering without dispersing. One particular crow got incredibly close so I decided to stop and feed it a few pieces of crust from my sandwich. I purposely tossed the bread a few feet away to see if he'd come that close and when he'd hesitate, another would daringly get a little closer until one finally flew in close enough to snatch it and fly away. Once I had built up a little trust, more and more crows flew in to get in on the action and I was suddenly swarmed. They followed me around for awhile until they realized that I didn't have any more to give. Normally I watch the crows in hopes of them telling me where a raptor is hiding out, so it was fun observing them from a completely different perspective today.

I saw a juvenile eagle hunt waterfowl out near the center of the lake while one of it's parents looked on from a perch low alongside the expressway. There were two large concentrations out on the lake and the eagle took a pass at the first, was unsuccessful, and immediatlely swooped down on the other, unsuccessful again. Possibly content with it's efforts (or ashamed?), he slowly made his way back towards the nest while the adult took flight and came back in the direction of the marshlands near Douglas Road. In that particular area, there seemed to be hundreds of American goldfinches chattering in the bare deciduous canopies. The eagle hovered over the area for awhile, but must have seen something it liked near the lagoon and it swooped down in that direction. I was near the main pond at the time and I started to run to see if it had made a kill but I wasn't able to see anything when I arrived. Cormorants had been the only species in the lagoon throughout the day so I'm assuming that they were the intended target? Given how they alarmed to the eagle last week, I'm pretty sure that was the case.

Great blue herons weren't gathered in a group today like they were last week. I did see a few though and one particular was perched about 15 above Southwest Pond on a branch of a snag. I've never seen them up this high before, any thoughts?

I haven't seen a pileated in a few weeks but I had a really close encounter with one out in the meadow north of the Yard Pond - I typically don't spend much time in this area but I'm now going to start due to the large amount of activity. It was a male and he began feeding about 10-15 feet away from me as if I wasn't even there. Directly nearby, I heard a bird that I couldn't identify in an evergreen up near the top. I couldn't get a visual but I heard the song for awhile but nothing rung a bell. I'll look again for it next week - and bring along a recording device since I quickly forgot the song.

The violet-green swallows finally arrived and were swarming all over the Bay today. I never saw any perched but I saw their white rumps that distiguish them from one of their lookalikes, the tree swallow. There were a few of them feeding in the area as well. The violet-greens were feeding over 100 feet up in the air since that is where the insects seemed to be in the afternoon. I've been told that they do this both near the beginning and end of a storm front. In the morning however, they were feeding near the ground.

I went over past the row house looking for the wood ducks and couldn't see any from the pier. But as I crossed the street and took another look across the gym, I finally saw one out on the water. There also was a wood duck in Yesler Cove in the afternoon which is weird since I've never seen one anywhere near there before. I've noticed that there are considerably less and less of them each time that I come here and I'm wondering if it's because they've already begun nesting? I also saw a Downy woodpecker feeding near the ground directly to my right in the same area. Typically I only see them near the swamp but I believe there must be another pair of them in this area as well. Maybe the downies and wood ducks are playing tricks on me?

Over all it was a great day at the Bay.

March 7, 2014

Duration of Visit: 9:30am-2:45pm
Weather: Cloudy and cool in the morning. Around noon, the sun came out and it warmed up into the 60s. Turned out to be a beautiful day.

Map of Union Bay for Reference: CLICK HERE

Species count was 42: Eurasion Wigeon, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Robin, Spotted Towhee, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown Creeper, American Goldfinch, Tree Swallow, Double-crested Cormorant, Bushtit, Virginia Rail, Mallard, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, American Coot, Bald Eagle, Cooper's Hawk, American Crow, Steller's Jay, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Bufflehead, Pied-billed Grebe, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Pacific Wren, Bewick's Wren, Marsh Wren, Northern Flicker, Song Sparrow, Anna's Hummingbird, Wood Duck, Canada Goose, European Starling, Red-winged Blackbird, Gadwall, GBH, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Merganser, Downy Woodpecker, Feral Pigeon.

New Arrivals: Eurasian Wigeon.

Notes from the day:

I finally saw my first Eurasion Wigeon today and I wouldn't have seen it if it wasn't for the plant sale taking place at the Center for Urban Horticulture. The CUH parking lot was completely full and there was a line of cars waiting to park, so I parked down the block near the Talaris Conference Center across the street. As I exited the car, I noticed a reddish head amongst a flock of American wigeons out on the conference center's central pond. I quickly pulled out my binoculars and verified that it was in fact a Eurasian Wigeon. It was intermingling amongst a flock of over 100 American Wigeons. Here is a picture of him:

It appears that the golden-crowned kinglets haven't disappeared after all. I thought they may have moved on from the Yesler swamp area since I haven't seen or heard them in the area for the last couple of weeks. They were present in fairly large numbers in the upper canopy near the swamp and for the first time all year, I heard them singing! It had been mostly their dainty chipping calls throughout the winter. I wonder if they're getting ready to breed? Anyway, it was good to see them again. I've really gotten to know this species pretty well over the winter since they spent a lot of their time feeding near the ground. Now that they've moved high again, I'll just have to admire them from afar I guess.

I also encountered my first flock of bushtits of the day near the swamp. They moved through the area rather quickly (as usual), followed by one of the resident downy woodpeckers. I know there's a mating pair in this area, they've just been a little scarce the past few weeks. Or maybe I haven't looked hard enough? Anyway, it was good to see one of them again. I was actually fortunate to have been graced by bushtit flocks multiple times throughout the day. Aside from the crows and starlings, I probably didn't see more of any other bird today than the bushtits. Here is pic of one of them along the fence line trail in Yester Cove.

By the time I finally made my way over into the Cove, it was hopping with activity. A red-breasted merganser casually floated in the center while it was accompanied by groups of gadwalls, mallards, wigeons, shovelers, ring-necked ducks and green-winged teals. There were large numbers of all of them except for the ring-necks. I had never seen the cove this crowded before. I found out later in the day that most of the sunning spots throughout Union Bay were flooded over, including the island in the lagoon (which is usually a really popular hang out spot). The cove was probably one of their only options and that's where they all happened to congregate today. Even the eagles took notice and hovered over the area multiple times throughout the day. The wigeons would all swim for cover near the shore while the mallards and gadwalls continued to either casually swim, bathe or nap. This is the second week in a row that I've witnessed the wigeons being the first and only species to react to an alarm while the other species in the area went about business as usual. I'm starting to think that they may be more skittish than the rest.

As I moved out of the cove into the meadow near the stained glass booth, I was greeted by my first house finch of the year in Union Bay. I've seen quite a few this year in both my home in Snohomish County and on campus, but this was the first one here. He even took a moment to sing me a really beautiful song before he ducked back into the thicket.

As I headed over to check out Wedding Rock, I heard and saw hundreds of crows cawing on all sides of Shoveler's Pond, so I turned and headed in that direction to investigate. The trees were full of them and along the shore, almost as many were having a drink and/or taking a bath. It was the most crows that I've ever seen here at Union Bay (and for those of you that know this area, there is usually too many to count to begin with). And funny enough, a mating pair of shovelers fed while they swam in a circular pattern together. It was almost as if they were putting on a performance for the crows.

This week I only saw one lone tree swallow perched high up above the Southwest Pond along the southern shore. He let me observe directly below him for a few minutes before he took flight to catch insects out over the meadow. Last week I saw 5 or 6 in the same area. Not sure if they moved on or if I just wasn't in the right place at the right time this week to see the rest. Here is a pic of the swallow that I did see:

The pied-billed grebes weren't paired up again this week like they were the last. In fact, I only saw four all day long. I watched one actually catch a fish over near the Shell House and the other 3 were all hanging out together near where Yesler Cove opens up into the lake. Maybe they weren't getting ready to mate afterall? I'll continue to observe their behaviors next week.

The ruby-crowned kinglet males were flaunting their red crowns for the first time this year. I've seen them almost every week for over a month and this was the first time I've seen them with their flashy crowns. They were intermingling with the bushtits on the west end of the cove along the fence. They're probably getting ready to mate as well.

I had an opportunity to witness multiple species of birds bathing today. I think it's because we've gotten so much rain that puddles have formed almost everywhere in the area. A good number of the puddles were either on or near cover and the birds took advantage of it. I think I counted 5 different species taking a dip. Here is a pic of a group of starlings bathing in the Dime Lot.

When I approached the turtle logs in the morning, I noticed there didn't seem to be a bird anywhere on the entire lake. The water was really choppy and a lot of the birds seemed to be congregating both in the ponds and newly created puddle lakes all throughout Union Bay. When the sun came out in the afternoon, the birds returned to Lake Washington in the center of the Bay as they usually do. The eagles soared high above them and this time there were three. One was an adult but the others were too far away to distinguish. I believe at least one was a juvenile since I saw it hovering above the cove earlier in the day.

When I walked down into the marshy area east of Douglas Road, all of the crows which I had seen earlier near Shoveler's Pond had congregated in the trees above my head. This time, a group of starlings of equal numbers flew in to join them and it was annoying loud. The last time I saw this many starlings and crows in one small area exhibiting this type of behavior, a Cooper's flew past and both species began to mob the accipiter. Maybe there was a raptor in the area? I looked pretty hard but wasn't able to detect anything.

Last week I heard my first Virginia rail calls. This week, I heard them in three different areas throughout the Bay. One was on the northwest shoreline of Yesler Cove. The other was by the Reading Rocks and the third was over on the Southwest Pond (where I heard them last week). Two of the three encounters were pairs of rails calling back and forth to one another. I'm not sure if that's a courtship behavior or it's two males being territorial. The reason I say so is that one of the pairs was performing a grunt display call. I'll research this more before next week.

I thought the GBHs were getting ready to nest because the large gatherings that became a regularity earlier in the year ceased during the last couple of weeks. Well today they were back congregating along the shore near the Conibear Mitigation again. There were 16 of them in total along a 40 yard stretch of shoreline. Another birder who was admiring the sight along with me said that he once saw 23 of them gathered along a similar sized stretch of shore last year. Here is a picture of a few of them:

My wish coming into today was to see a Cooper's hawk. Well my wish was granted while I was observing the yellow-rumped warblers on the north end of the Southwest Pond. It flew low over the pond coming from the south and used the deciduous stand as cover while it sharply turned east to surprise the starlings gathered on the ground in the meadow to the east. I saw the hawk swoop towards the ground but I wasn't able to tell if the hunt was successful. It was a pretty sneaky maneuver overall by the Cooper's. Usually when I see them at Union Bay, so do the crows. This time, the crows didn't see it coming at all.

It was a great day overall and I'm looking forward to see what behaviors and new arrivals I'll experience next week. Until then.