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One of three female red-wing blackbirds pecking in the cattail heads below the #2 viewing platform.
What looked like a juvie male Anna's hummer flew in from the tree behind the #2 viewing platform. It seemed upset or confused by all of the birds in the cattails. It hovered above the cattails and buzzed one of the blackbirds.
Continuing with Wednesday, Daren and I went to the fishing pier. Very little was happening there, but we did see two kingfishers perched on the pilings where the eagles often hang out. The numbered boxes are the new martin boxes set out to replace the old plastic gourds which were washed or blown away a few years ago.
One of the kingfishers flew to the other piling.....
and back to the first one.
Birds in Edmonds often violate the No Diving ordnance.
Monday's (7/6) photo adventures started out in the morning with a Douglas's squirrel barking in my backyard. Pine Ridge Park, which is home to this PNW native, is only a half block to the south and is easily accessible via trees and backyard fences. I photographed one last winter hopping along my backyard fence. The Douglas's squirrel emits loud, continuous alert barking when disturbed. This is not necessarily to the squirrel's benefit, as it gives away its location to hunters like barred owls or my camera and I.
The morning continued with a trip to the marsh, where I saw some sandpipers and a yellowlegs. I ran into a well-known local birder who said these birds are part of the "fall" migration, which actually starts in July.
Heat waves rising from the mud flats made photography difficult later in the afternoon.
Next stop was the Hutt Park eagle nest. While taking photos of the baby eagle (see eagle thread), I saw a hummer checking out some house finches perched on a far tree.
Friday (7/10) I spotted a male common yellowthroat at the marsh. It is only the second time I have seen a yellowthroat. The first time was at the same location. Photographing the bird was difficult as I was shooting between cattails. The wind was blowing and I had to toss many shots where the bird was obscured by cattail blades.
Flocks of small sandpipers continue to show up at the marsh. I believe they are western and least sandpipers.
nice catch with the yellowthroat, Bill! i've been trying to get a decent shot of one of those little stinkers for years! they seldom come out in the open, and if they do, they're invariably far away and half-obscured by intervening foliage... i've only gotten one decent shot of one ever, about 7 years ago down at Juanita...
nice catch with the yellowthroat, Bill! i've been trying to get a decent shot of one of those little stinkers for years! they seldom come out in the open, and if they do, they're invariably far away and half-obscured by intervening foliage... i've only gotten one decent shot of one ever, about 7 years ago down at Juanita...
The past few cooler, overcast days have made for better picture taking at the marsh. No more pesky heat waves to distort the photos.
The smallest and most prevalent sandpipers currently at the marsh are the least and westerns. Not being an expert on shore birds, I usually go by the color of their legs: yellow = least, black = western. Unfortunately, all the sandpipers' legs turn black after they wade in the mud.
Most stay on the far mudflats when the water is out and are too far away for good photos. The water was up Saturday (7/11) and I caught two up close.
You cannot tell from my photos how tiny these sandpipers are. They are smaller than a song sparrow and about the same size as a wren.
The marsh wrens have been especially active this year. I don't know how long their breeding/nesting season lasts, but several are still chattering and building nests.
The nests are difficult to spot. Here is one of the more visible ones, located off the #2 (main) viewing platform.
Monday afternoon (7/13) I went to Ballinger Park in nearby Mountlake Terrace while my son was playing tennis. I startled two green herons that were near one of the small ponds. The first heron caught me by surprise and I got off some poor grab shots like the one below.
The second heron caught me by surprise as well, but my camera was in position for some better shots.
Ballinger Park was a former public golf course located beside Lake Ballinger. The city of Mountlake Terrace is formulating a master plan for the park with a public meeting scheduled for Tuesday (7/14). More info can be found here: http://www.cityofmlt.com/cityServices/parks/ballingerLakePark.htm?B.
Later that afternoon my son and I went to Pine Ridge Park to look for the barred owl. We did not see it, but we saw five or six juvie wood ducks in the large pond/small lake. The water level is down quite a bit due to the lack of rain this summer.
One of the ducks swam fairly close to where I was hiding behind the cattails.
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Good shots, Bill.
