Hello All,
The forest area seems to be at that in-between migrant waves stage. Song
Sparrows, Robins, Spotted Towhees, Black-capped Chickadees, Bewick's &
Winter Wrens all seem to be nesting. There is fresh "wood-working" on
tree trunks from Pileated Woodpeckers. Near the shoreline just north of
the Marine Techology building at Seahurst beach were about 60 Band-tailed
Pigeons. Most all the wintering sea-fowl are gone. I saw only 6 Surf
Scoters, 2 Horned Grebes (one in full alternate plumage), a
far-out-on-the-Sound string-along of about 150 Western Grebes and 1
still-basic Common Loon.

One Pacific-Slope Flycatcher was heard (we had 1 in March!), and a first
of the season Hermit Thrush was seen and heard briefly. We have only
about 20% of the usual summering population of Violet-Green
Swallows.......maybe more will show up. The middle of last week, there
was some kind of group activity, about a dozen birds, of Steller's Jays
along the forest edge near our condo complex. Steller's Jays were neither
heard nor seen today.

The forest was wonderful with so many wildflowers, trees and berry bushes
blooming (Salmon, Thimble, and perhaps a Raspberry species.) The
white Trillium is still out, but most of the blossoms at at the
dark pink end-stage, and the Skunk Cabbage has finished its bloom. Nearly
all the deciduous trees are fully leafed-out at our mild-winter sea-level
elevation.

I have something remarkable about to bloom in my potted cacti/succulent
collection in my living room (big S, SE, and SW-facing windows help a
lot.) I have a single Ocotillo wand that is now about a meter tall; I
have had it for over 25 years, commercially purchased as a "baby" only a
few cm long. It now has a spike of red-tipped buds about to open; I have
never heard of a house-bound potted Ocotillo blooming! I'm thrilled! Of
course, in the wild these red flowers are cherished by the hummingbirds
and insects of the Southwest's Sonora Desert. Under natural conditions
these plants...which normally grow as a "bouquet" of thorny, 3-meter or
taller wands...may bloom twice in a season. In milder wetter SW winters
they can open flowers in Jan (I've seen this in Organ Pipe National
Park) and also again during summer rains. I'm tempted to put it out
on my deck to see if any hummingbirds are attracted.

I'll try to get down to Des Moines Marina tomorrow to check on the Great
Blue Heron(ry), to confirm any Barn Swallow nesting returnees under the
public boat launch dock and to survey for other migrants in the surrounds.

Cheers,
Maureen
*******************************************
Maureen Ellis me2 at u.washington.edu U of WA & Burien-Seahurst Park, WA

"Finding the occasional straw of truth awash in a great ocean of
confusion and bamboozle requires vigilance, dedication, and courage."
-Carl Sagan-

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