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.
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