July 15 - Spokane's Banded Canada Geese

We got up with the alarm this morning and went downstairs to breakfast.  I drove Marty up to her NRCS State office, then returned to walk around downtown Spokane’s Riverfront Park, located along the Spokane River & containing the upper Spokane Falls.

This was the site of the 1974 World Expo, which was the first environmentally-themed World’s Fair.

There were 5.2 million visitors to the fair, which was considered a success, nearly breaking even, revitalizing the blighted urban core, and pumping an estimated $150 million into the local economy and surrounding region.

The site had been industrial, inaccessible, and unappealing prior to the Fair.

Bacon Concrete was one of the beneficiaries of building the Expo site

But now, the park anchors the residents of Spokane to its downtown, with trails and great views of the Spokane Falls cataracts.

There are historical monuments, as well as civic artworks.  The sculpture, The Call and the Challenge by Ken Spiering, was commissioned in 1986.  In recognition of the centennial of Sacred Heart Medical Center, the piece depicts a Sister of Providence laying bricks.

Mother Joseph was 20 years old when she entered the convent of the newly-founded Sisters of Charity of Providence (now Sisters of Providence) in Montreal.  In 1856 Mother Joseph was chosen to lead four missionaries to the Pacific Northwest Territories of the United States.  The Sisters made their home in Vancouver, Washington.  In 1857, the Sisters opened a small cabin that would quickly serve various charitable purposes.  Over the next few years, it housed the convent and infirmary, was an orphanage for both boys and girls, and boarded the elderly and insane.  This cabin would eventually become the first St. Joseph Hospital.

Mother Joseph decided to purchase property and form the "Sisters of Charity of the House of Providence in the Territory of Washington" in 1859. It remains one of Washington State's oldest corporations and the parent corporation for the Providence Health System.  She was aggressive in her fundraising, braving mountains and wilderness on horseback.  Mother Joseph was responsible for the completion of eleven hospitals, seven academies, five schools for Native American children, and two orphanages throughout an area that now encompasses Washington, northern Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.

This artwork is actually a bike rack on the north side of the INB Performing Arts Center.  The sign behind it reads “Bert Bike-A-Rack” (yes, those of us of a certain age just groaned at the word-play…), indicating that it was crafted by Betty Gardner in 2009.

The dams and power generating facilities are operated by Avista, which used to be called Washington Water Power Co. until they changed their name in 1999.

The area had quite a few yellow bellied marmots.

How many rocks could a rockchuck chuck if a rockchuck could chuck rocks?

There are a LOT of Canada Geese on the river and in the park.

I noted that quite a few of them were banded.

So, I spent some time walking through the flocks, trying to read the band numbers with my binoculars,

and ended up reading nine of them well enough to send in the numbers to the USGS Bird Banding Lab.

Whenever you can read a bird band - or one of the “auxiliary” markers - please report the numbers to the Bird Banding Laboratory.  You will receive a “Certificate of Appreciation” for your efforts that will inform you of where and when the bird was banded.  Sometimes, you can contact the bander and they will provide other information, such as what the project was all about, whether the bird had been found previously to your report, and so on.

It ended up that the birds were banded by WDFW biologists locally.  Here is one that had a plastic neck collar with alpha-numeric identification that is much easier to read.

After about 10 a.m. it began to rain, but this cormorant didn’t seem to mind.

Tightrope Walking Double-crested Cormorant

I walked back up to the motel and worked on some blogs (yes, I know I’m two months behind with these) until I met Marty after she was done with work.

There are lots of gulls to scope through on the river

California Gull

Once again, I supped with my wife in the room, watched a little TV movie, and went to bed early.  It was fun to be "bird-watching with a purpose" today.

Drake Mallard in "eclipse" plumage

Spokane Riverfront Park eBird Checklist is Here

May 1 - Last Day at Nisqually for a while

I had a dentist appointment this morning, but it was over by 10 a.m., so I drove out to Nisqually NWR, as I won’t be able to go out on the weekly Wednesday Bird Walk for a while, as I’m leaving for Ohio next Monday.

I understand that there are no White Volcanoes in Ohio . . .

I caught up with the weekly Wednesday Birdwalk folks along the west boardwalk, looking at a Rufous Hummingbird on her nest.  Neither of our usual Refuge Volunteer leaders-of-the-walk, Shep Thorp nor Phil Kelley, was able to be here today, so Russ Smith and Ken Brown led the walk, and Russ pulled off partway out the north dike.

Along the dike, we usually see what geese remain this late in the Spring.  We were surprised by seeing a single Greater White-fronted Goose mixed in with the Cackling geese.

The "Specklebellies" nest on the Arctic tundra, and some winter all the way into Mexico.  We get a few in wintering in the area, as well as passing through on migration.

Outstanding in his field

And, the 'speck' does stand out amongst the Cacklers

The ”Cacklers” are on their way to nest on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.

These Cacklers are Branta hutchinsii minima, and heading for their summer home

The resident Canada Geese nest here, and already have hatched their broods of goslings.

What's a Mother to do?

As it was, Ken and I were the only birders to go all the way out on the estuary boardwalk.  We usually sort through the gulls, and look for what shorebirds are left after the peak of the vernal migration.

A Narcissistic Ring-billed Gull

But, it was well that we made the effort, as we were treated to good views of a pair of Whimbrels.  The Whimbrel is a large shorebird that is fairly uncommon on the south Puget Sound beaches.

They can be found in small numbers throughout the year in Western Washington, but I’ve seen them during the Spring migration in agricultural fields.

Checking that no Peregrines are passing by . . .

Standing Pretty

In the shorebirds, the female is the larger, and has the longer bill

We returned back along the east side of the Twin Barns boardwalk loop, and noted that the Refuge folks had cut down a “beaver tree”.  This large cottonwood had been the subject of Bucky’s attention for over a year, and they’d completely girdled it as of last fall, so that it was dead by this Spring.  Dropping the tree removed the likelihood that it would fall across the boardwalk.

The walk resulted in 70 avian taxa being seen, although I missed on seeing about a dozen species due to my late arrival.  But, it was a good day to be out on the Refuge.

Song Sparrow of the Puget Sound

After the walk, Ken and I ate lunch at the Nisqually Bar & Grill.  I had the sirloin steak lunch and 2 cans of cider for $22.  Yummers!

Nisqually NWR eBird Checklist is Here