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.
No comments:
Post a Comment