Tumwater Falls Park

So, today I joined the American Birding Association.  I should have done this years ago, but I guess it's never too late to do the things you want to do.

An "Individual" membership is $49, and that allows me to - as they say - "... not only receive our high quality publications that help us all become better birders, (but) you have access to a vast network of online resources." 

This morning, the Home feeder area is pretty active.  I feed a tube of black oil sunflower seeds, have a hummingbird feeder out, a cage for our home-made suet, and scatter a cheap mixed blend of sunflower, millet, etc. from the hardware store.

Mostly Oregon Juncos and Black-capped Chickadees, with a smattering of Song and Golden-crowned Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, House Finches, and Red-breasted Nuthatches.

A pair of Red-shafted Northern Flickers has been feeding on the fruits of our Clerodendrum tree.  There are still quite a few berries, so they have some more time for their own "Thanksgiving" feast.

At 8 a.m., I drove our 'new' Crosstrek over to Tumwater Automotive for an oil change.  I had a bit of time, so walked back to Tumwater Falls Park to do a bit of Autumn birding.

This private park is owned by the Olympia Tumwater Foundation and graciously open to the Public.  It is somewhat difficult to hear birds vocalizing over the roar of the cataracts and the noise of I-5, but it is certainly the best place in South Sound to see the American Dipper.

I have enjoyed seeing the "Water Ouzel" as long as I can remember.  It was ubiquitous along the Santiam River and Quartzville Creek when I was a kid & my Dad took me fishing and rockhounding.  Years later I enjoyed reading the entire chapter that John Muir dedicated to this bird's life history in his 1894 book The Mountains of California.

     Dipper at Tumwater Falls Park

"Among all the countless waterfalls I have met in the course of ten years' exploration in the Sierra, whether among the icy peaks, or warm foot-hills, or in the profound yosemitic cañons of the middle region, not one was found without its Ouzel. No cañon is too cold for this little bird, none too lonely, provided it be rich in falling water. Find a fall, or cascade, or rushing rapid, anywhere upon a clear stream, and there you will surely find its complementary Ouzel, flitting about in the spray, diving in foaming eddies, whirling like a leaf among beaten foam-bells; ever vigorous and enthusiastic, yet self-contained, and neither seeking nor shunning your company."

The bird will stand, bobbing, along the edge of the torrent, then wade into the water, and hold its head underwater while searching for some morsel.  Nothing close?  It might just swim out into the current, or wade out until it is completely underwater, "flying" back to the surface and repeating the process until it is sated.

I came back past the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife's Tumwater Falls Salmon Hatchery.  This site is one of the main egg-taking stations for south Puget Sound fall chinook, and supports recreational, commercial, Canadian, and Tribal fisheries from the coast of Alaska to our Deschutes River.

It appears that the station made its egg-take goal of 5.5 million eggs this year.  The contributions of the smolts released from this facility from 2000-2004 accrued 24% to Canadian fisheries.  In Washington, there is a 9% 'return' to Ocean troll, 3% to Ocean sport, 10% in Puget Sound net (mostly Tribal), and 35% in Puget Sound sport fisheries.  About 17% of the run returned to the hatchery.

Tumwater Falls eBird checklist