Hi Tweeters. Two days ago we went birding at Lake Fenwick with our new
camper. I was very surprised at how much activity there was, especially since
it never died down even though we started in the late afternoon/early
evening. We didn't camp there, but stayed a few hours. Out in the lake there
were many, many WOOD DUCKS, a few PIED-BILLED GREBES, and the usual MALLARDS.
Some the Wood Ducks and most of the Mallards had little ducklings, and I was
very surprised that the Wood Ducks outnumbered even the Mallards by at least
5 to 1. I would estimate that there were 40-50 on the lake, mostly males. I
think a lot of the females are now on the nests. The Wood Ducks actually came
closer to us than Mallards, not showing any fear and providing beautiful
views since we left the camera at home. I even observed a male Wood Duck with
a soggy Cheeto in it's bill. So we walked on the trail, finding many WILSON'S
and ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLERS, and WARBLING VIREOS (year bird #215). I heard a
strange noise and turned around to see a CHESTNUT-BACKED CHICKADEE pop inside
a cute little natural cavity to feed it's nestlings. I observed both parents
feeding the young for some time before walking away. Up ahead a little ways
were a lot of WESTERN TANAGERS, I'd say at least 30, again mostly males. I
only saw about 5 female WETAs the whole day. I kept on going and found a
BUSHTIT nest with both parents going in and out, but there were no young in
the nest. I also observed a GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET making a nest, and a
different one gleaning insects 2 feet away from me to feed its young. At the
end of the trail I recognized the "Shpik" call note of a BLACK-HEADED
GROSBEAK (year bird). Then it began singing, but remained unseen way up in
the canopy. That was one of the target birds that I was looking for. I also
saw a HOUSE WREN back in the bushes. A RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER flew to 10 feet
away from me and called to another. Then I did the trail 3 more times on the
off-chance of seeing my other target bird, which I certainly didn't expect to
see. But lo and behold, there it was. Right above me in a large tree above
the parking lot was an adult male BULLOCK'S ORIOLE, a lifer for me! That's
world lifer #291. Only 9 more to 300. I will undoubtedly reach 300 on the
Wenas Campout at the end of the month. Sounds like it will be a lot of fun!
Yesterday I just birded in my yard. I decided to get the bird CDs out and
see what I could attract. I started with Purple Finch, without success. Then
I switched to WESTERN TANAGER, which worked very well since a male flew to a
tall tree in the neighbor's yard checking out the song. When it flew away I
switched to BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK, which also responded very well. I heard it
singing pretty far away so played the song and within 10 minutes it was also
in a nearby tall tree. It didn't fly away though, and flew 5 feet away from
me! The bird continued to sing for the longest time while I turned the
WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW song on. In less than 5 seconds the bird zoomed
straight in front of my face with tail raised, wings fluttering, and feathers
flying. I didn't want to discourage him so stopped his song right there! Then
I played Dark-eyed "Oregon" Junco and also within 5 seconds a male came
zooming down even faster than the sparrow and landed 1' away scolding me. I
was very surprised! Also attracted were: 2 RED CROSSBILLS and a few EVENING
GROSBEAKS. Good Birding!

Visit my birding website at:
http://hometown.aol.com/birdking88/index.html

Birdking88 at aol.com
Charlie W. Wright
Sumner, WA
Age 11