It was chilly and overcast, with that glare-y grey sky that makes it so hard
to see color. But, I had a nice time nonetheless.

At the Master Gardener area the trees and shrubs were full of birds, it was
great! There was a big flock of YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS containing many
juveniles working the trees. Amidst them were RUBY-CROWNED KINGLETS and
even a GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET. Both BLACK-CAPPED and CHESTNUT-BACKED
CHICKADEES were present, as were BUSHTITS and AMERICAN ROBINS. I saw a
HAIRY WOODPECKER as well as several orange-shafted NORTHERN FLICKERS.

The flicker situation was interesting. The several of the birds were making
that "flick-a flick-a flick-a" sound, and I saw two face off and joust.
Unfortunately they were partially obscured by leaves so I couldn't determine
their gender. I understand females and males will joust in certain
circumstances, so... They flew off in opposite directions once they
finished their little set-to.

There wasn't a heck of a lot happening out on the marsh. A GREAT BLUE HERON
was about the only bird I saw out there, with the exception of some ducks in
the pondy area where all the Red-winged Blackbirds hang out during
spring/summer. There was a female NORTHERN SHOVELER, some GREEN-WINGED TEAL
(I think; had the proper-looking speculum; juveniles? Eclipse?), and
something that looked an awful lot like a Canvasback, but I wasn't familiar
with the plumage it was in (not like a Canvasback at all, so maybe a
juvenile?). It had the head shape, though. If I have time tomorrow I'll go
back out with my scope and several reference books and try to pin it down,
if it's still there. I'm still looking for a book that depicts eclipse and
juvenile plumage. May be a futile quest, though. *sigh*

There were also the usual suspects, many SONG SPARROWS, BEWICK'S WRENS, and
SPOTTED TOWHEES.

I'm looking forward to the arrival of more ducks, and raptors.

Good birding,
Mary

Mary E. Klein
Bremerton WA
Cellobird -AT- Comcast.net

--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.0.408 / Virus Database: 268.13.4/475 - Release Date: 10/13/2006