Sorry about no post last week, it just got by me. So if you want this to be your best bird if the last 2 weeks I’m not going to be the calander police. For me no one bird stood out particularly, but the hike at Sunrise that seemed to have almost all juvenile passerines was most memorable. Bruce LaBar and I went on Tuesday and got an early start, avoiding the crouds of later in the day. We had great, if initially at times confusing looks at several juvenile species.
Leave a comment with your favorite birds of the last week. Good birding. Good Day!
CA mountains. White headed woodpeckers adults and juveniles, Townsend Solitares, California Towhee, Prarie Falcolns and Mountain Quail.
Two different American Kestrels at Ridgefield NWR just before sunset. The first let us watch for about 20 minutes while it hunted grasshoppers (successfully caught and devoured three). The second on a sign with the setting sun magnificently accenting the bird’s natural blue and orange colors.
Additionally at Ridgefield, a male Northern Harrier sitting in the marsh. Always a treat to see the ghostly gray males.
Also watching a flock of ~50 Brown Pelicans and half a dozen Caspian Terns fishing near shore at Cape Disappointment.
Sounds like some good birding. Ed
An American Kestrel at Fort Steilacoom Park, only my 2nd in the park over the many years and trips. The 1st was in a nesting cavity John Riegsecker showed me several years ago. This one was in flight over what I refer to as the SE Meadow (west of off-leash area). Happy with my find, I opted to take a rest on a park bench atop a slight knoll amongst the tall conifers in the midst of the meadow, normally a place of meager-modest activity. It was like a 3 ring circus with a constant changing of species, especially multiple Western Wood Pewees juvies chasing each other, resting on a perch, then going at it again….and again. There were also a couple of Willow Flycatchers, notably much crisper plumage than their scruffy WWPE counterparts that look liked 3rd morning of a weekend bender! The little grove also had an inordinate number of RBNU’s as well as lots of HOFI, AMGO, BCCH with 3 WETA (1 female, 2 juvies) capped off by a soaring Osprey and then a RTHA. As the flow of activity constantly ebbed and flowed, all viewed from the comfort of the park bench, over 40 minutes suddenly flycatcher gigantus (relatively!) appeared. It was a very perplexed, timid OSFL juvie not sure what to make of its boisterous cousins! I’ve NEVER seen anything approaching that much activity at THAT specific location within the park….a treat…..and at 11:30ish AM on a warm, sunny day in AUGUST. What doldrums?!!
Sometimes it pays to stop and sit a bit. Ed