October 30, 2019 - Another Wednesday at Nisqually Refuge

I went out to Nisqually for the weekly Wednesday Walk, and arrived at the Visitors' Center just at 8 a.m.  Volunteer Shep Thorp is birding in Panama, so I was ‘appointed’ to be the eBird checklist-keeper.  Refuge Volunteer Phil Kelley led the group, and decided to take the group directly to the north dike, where a Short-eared Owl has been reported.

The fog was just burning off as we got out toward the dike

The morning’s high tide is more likely to keep the birds close to the dike, and if we followed the ‘usual’ course - through the orchard and slowly along the west boardwalk - we would arrive at the estuary during an ebb tide and only have distant views of birds.

Ken Brown searches diligently for the Short-ear . . .

As it was, only a few folks saw the owl in the reed canary grass at the east end of the dike (I was not one of them), but we did get good views of some of the shorebirds and waterfowl.  The estuary boardwalk is still closed until “mid-November” for repairs, so the walk is a bit shorter than normal.

This drake Mallard was iridescent in the morning sun . . .

 . . . while the hen Mallard enjoyed a nap.

Greater Yellowlegs

The group returned to the boardwalk loop, where a Great Horned Owl was seen near a previous year’s nest snag.  It appeared that the pair of owls was unsuccessful in their nesting attempt last Spring, and we hope for their better success this coming year.

Too nice a day to bother looking at the birders . . .

The Washington Conservation Corps workers were using leaf blowers on the boardwalk and the river road, so we missed many of the birds along there, owing to the infernal noise.  We’re not quite certain why these young people were tasked with blowing leaves off of a gravel road, but . . .

There were a lot of leaves down.  Here, Jay Stene solves the mystery of why these are called "Big Leaf" maples.

I see that the maintenance people finally decided to assist the beavers with a project.  The rodents had girdled a Black Cottonwood of medium girth, and cut part-way through, then abandoned the endeavor.  The Refuge folks, fearing that the dead tree would most likely fall onto the boardwalk, felled the tree away from the path.

Goldenrod has been blooming all summer, and now the last of the seed heads are all that remain.

Solidago canadensis

We did check the heritage orchard and the service road before we stopped our day’s birding.  The Golden-crowned Sparrows have settled into the orchard for the winter.

Zonotrichia atricapilla

A group of kids was being shown some birds by one of the Refuge Volunteers, and we were all treated to a view of a Great Blue Heron finishing its luncheon of fresh garter snake.

The kid in red is paying attention . . .

. . . to a drama more exciting than the Sy-Fy channel.

All in all, it was a good morning well spent.

Nisqually NWR eBird checklist is Here 

October 28-29, 2019 - Randomly Around OlyWA

On Monday the 28^th, my morning ‘birding’ was done pretty much from my yard.  The most excitement is that I have a pair of “intergrade” Northern Flickers coming to the peanut-butter tree Clerodendrum trichotomum.

This “glory bower” flowers in late July, then produces these neat little purple berries, and the Flickers seem to relish them.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, most of the local flickers are the Red-shafted subspecies, with the Yellow-shafted variety being the eastern taxon.  However, the “eastern” race nests ‘way to the west and north in the Canadian Rockies, where it will inter-breed with the Red-shafted birds.

The resulting offspring may show a range of intermediate characteristics between the two forms.  One of the birds showed much yellow in the ‘red’ tail feathers.  Another characteristic is that the intergrade birds may show a trace (or more) of red in the nape of the neck, which indicates a measure of ‘Yellow-shafted’ genetic introgression.

"Slate-colored" Dark-eyed Junco

There’s also been a Slate-colored Junco in the yard.  Again, this is an “eastern” subspecies, that also nests north of us in the Canadian Rockies and Coast mountains.  Every year, we get a few migrating through or wintering in our yard with the “Oregon” Juncos.

"Oregon" Junco

On Tuesday, I got up to another clear and frosty, 30º F morning, and I worked on a Blog Post for 8 August (back when I was only 3 months behind!).  The neighborhood signs seen during my morning walk are indicative of the Character of my neighbors.

In the afternoon, I took the pickup down to Les Schwab new tires, and while they were working on the truck, I walked down to East Bay and birded my way to the north boat ramp at Swantown Marina.

The marina is part of the Port of Olympia, built on fill material dredged from the harbor or from grading material from the hills into the estuary.

Years ago, the “city fathers” actually buried more than a half-mile of Indian/Moxlie Creek and piped the stream to its ‘mouth’ in East Bay.  It’s a wonder that any salmon or trout are able to survive in this creek.

There weren’t any “new” birds to be seen, but the Surf Scoters are back for the winter, the Pied-billed Grebes are plying their quiet lives, and the herons know that the worst day fishing is better than the best day working.

Pied-billed Grebe

Great Blue Heron

A flock of Surf Scoters near the East Bay Channel Marker

Crows, as well as Steller's and California Jays, are caching acorns from the non-native red oaks that the Port has planted around the Marina.

Starlings descend on the lawns this time of year in search of a group lunch.  My guess is that they are foraging for the “leather jackets”, which are the larvae and pupae of the European Crane Fly.

Adult crane flies emerge from grasses in late summer and fall, and mate within 24 hours.  Eggs hatch within days and larvae feed on turfgrass roots and crowns during the fall.  The larvae of Tipula paludosa overwinter in the soil and come up to feed again in spring. By mid-May they begin to pupate until adult emergence. T. oleracea have two generations, so adults are seen in the spring as well.

"Leather Jacket" crane fly larvae

There are always gulls to sort through.

A pair of Ring-billed Gulls

An "Olympic" Gull - hybrid between a Western and a Glaucous-winged Gull

On my way back, I find that continuing downtown construction will limit soon limit the public’s views of the waterfront, unless we can afford the “Market Rate Housing”.

Finally, I stopped at the mouth of Schneider Creek, where yet another stream has been piped, and enters Puget Sound through a culvert.  I don’t believe that salmon can any longer ascend this short tributary.  But, one can view the area I’d birded earlier.  The “KGY” radio studio and Anthony’s Hearthfire Restaurant are decent birding spots, depending upon the tide.

Several flocks of gulls were foraging at some “bait balls”, where small fish are pushed to the surface by underwater predators, only to be at the mercy of gulls and cormorants and such from above.

This is a good place to view shipping at the Port of Olympia.  Today, they were loading logs onto the M/V Naruto Strait, a 180-meter long (590 feet) Bulk Carrier built in 2016, and now registered and sailing under the flag of  Hong Kong for Far Eastern Horizon Shipping.  Her gross tonnage is 21,538.  There used to be sawmills in Olympia, but nowadays we ship the logs, and the jobs dependent on them, to Asia.

The eBird Report for my Home 28 Oct is Here

The eBird Report for a walk through west Olympia 28 Oct is Here

The eBird Report for the Olympia 4^th Avenue Bridge 28 Oct is Here

The eBird Report for my Home 29 Oct is Here

The eBird Report for East Bay in Olympia 29 Oct is Here

The eBird Report for the Jack Davis pond at the Port of Olympia 29 Oct is Here

The eBird Report for Schneider Creek 29 Oct is Here 

Mount Rainier over east Olympia