Hi All,



My wife and I made the most of the great weather the past two days and were
well-rewarded by our feathered friends. On Sunday, I spent 3 hours in the
morning taking photos around the Cedar River Watershed Nature Center while
my wife was helping to lead a tour (she is a naturalist for the CRW). The
trees and bushes around the nature center were bursting with both adult and
immature birds. A Barn Swallow nest in the eves of one of the buildings was
overflowing with 5 youngsters. I watched three of them take what very well
may have been their first flight while their parents egged (pardon the
expression) them on. Young White-crowned Sparrows were present in
abundance, as were Cedar Waxwings, Rufous Hummingbirds, Swainson's Thrushes,
and others. A Black-headed Grosbeak was singing in the trees between the
center and Rattlesnake Lake, and a Warbling Vireo made an appearance in a
small tree right next to the center. I took a short walk to the north and
was drawn to a clump of bushes in a parking lot by the begging voice of a
young bird. I discovered its source- a fledgling Brown-headed Cowbird that
was being fed by a White-crowned Sparrow. An adult male cowbird was in a
tree close by, but I couldn't tell whether or not he was laughing at the
sparrow.



When my wife finished with her tour, I accompanied her as she drove into the
watershed and up to Chester Morse Lake. Crossing a bridge between the
Masonry Pond and the lake itself, we spotted a Common Loon. It's likely
that this was one of the loons that bred on the floating nest platform in
the Masonry Pond or one of the two platforms in Chester Morse Lake. As the
loon headed away from the bridge and farther out into the lake, it began to
call. Hearing that voice echoing through the lake-filled valley was
definitely the highlight of the day. We also visited the Masonry Dam and
saw Violet-green, Barn and Cliff Swallows in the air surrounding it. We
made a quick stop at Cedar Falls where we watched Cedar Waxwings hawking for
insects over the crystal blue water. It was an amazing day, and I strongly
encourage you to call or visit the CRW Nature Center to sign up for one of
the public watershed tours if you have not taken one before.



Monday was a great day as well. We got up at 5:30 am and headed to
Discovery Park. Now, we had planned to get up at 6:30, but our talented cat
Henry stepped on the alarm clock buttons and managed to set our clock ahead
by exactly one hour. I guess that was plan B when his constant meowing
between 5 am and 5:25 am wasn't enough to get us out of bed. Still, after a
quick stop for coffee we were very happy to be outside an hour earlier than
planned. At Discovery Park, we started at the South Parking Lot and headed
for the South Meadow. Fledglings were everywhere. Young crows could be
heard begging for food in all directions. Young Song Sparrows,
White-crowned Sparrows, Savannah Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, American Robins,
Bewick's Wrens and House Finches were seen and heard in their respective
habitats of choice. A Bald Eagle was hanging out on a perch that was
visible from the South Beach Trail. Northwestern Crows and a variety of
gulls were seen dropping hapless snails, clams and crabs on the rocks north
of the lighthouse. While we were walking along the beach trail North of the
lighthouse, we came across a fledgling Brown-headed Cowbird. The foster
parent was again a White-crowned Sparrow, but this time one of the sparrow's
own young must have managed to survive in the nest with his much larger
adopted brother. A fledgling White-crowned Sparrow was foraging right
alongside the cowbird. I wonder how often that happens.



The highlight of this trip was stumbling across a large patch of blooming
fireweed that was thick with juvenile and subadult Anna's and Rufous
Hummingbirds. We stood in the patch of flowers for over half and hour while
the hummingbirds fed and fought amongst themselves. I was suffering from a
serious case of sensory overload just trying to figure out where to point my
camera.



I took many photos at the Cedar River Watershed, but I was so excited about
the hummingbird photos from this morning that I skipped straight to
processing my Discovery Park photos first. I uploaded about 22 of them to
my New Photos gallery. It can be accessed from this page if you are
interested: http://www.goatislandimages.com/photogalleries.htm



Lists from both Sunday and Monday are below.



Cedar River Watershed- 07/13/08



Common Raven

Red-breasted Sapsucker

American Robin

Swainson's Thrush

Hermit Thrush

Bald Eagle

White-crowned Sparrow

Song Sparrow

American Goldfinch

Black-headed Grosbeak

Brown-headed Cowbird

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

Spotted Towhee

Pacific-slope Flycatcher

Willow Flycatcher

Barn Swallow

Violet Green Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Tree Swallow

Warbling Vireo

Rufous Hummingbird

Canada Goose

Common Loon



Discovery Park- 07/14/08



Bewick's Wren

Bushtit

Barn Swallow

Tree Swallow

Violet Green Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Song Sparrow

White-crowned Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Spotted Towhee

House Finch

American Goldfinch

American Robin

Swainson's Thrush

American Crow

Great Blue Heron

Glaucous-winged Gull

Bald Eagle

Belted Kingfisher

Anna's Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

House Sparrow

European Starling



Kevin Mack

Edmonds, WA

www.goatislandimages.com