Temperature: 65 degrees (approx.)
Weather: Partly Cloudy
Birds at the Union Bay Natural Area:
Song Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow?
American Robin
Bewicks Wren?
Redwing Blackbirds
Gadwell
Northern Flicker
House Finch
Great Blue Heron
Birds at Nisqually:
Yellow-Throated Warbler
Vaux's Swift
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Bullock's Oriole
Common Raven
American Goldfinch
European Starling
Brown Headed Cowbird
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Violet-Green Swallow
European Starling
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Cinnamon Teal
Ringed Neck Duck
Osprey
Orange-Crowned Warbler
Northern Shoveler
Greater Yellow Legs
Dunlin
Mallard
Yellow-Headed Blackbird
American Widgeon
Cedar Waxwing
American Coot
Birds on Mt Rainier:
Dark-Eyed Junco
Pileated Woodpecker
Varied Thrush
American Pipit
Sooty (Blue) Grouse
Phenological Observations in Nisqually and Rainier:
As Nisqually is at about the same elevation as my site, the phenology was about the same- trees fully leaved, grasses tall, flowers in the end of their bloom. The Pacific Willow at Nisqually still had its fuzzy flowers. The environment at Nisqually is pretty similar to my site, as it is mostly marshy with cottonwoods and willows.
Rainier, on the other hand, was behind in phenology compared to Nisqually. Due to the high altitude, many of the leaves still had their buds (such as the copse of Black Cottonwood that I saw from the bridge). The slide alder on the side of the parking lot had medium sized leaves. The Silver Firs were thinning out and were covered in Usnea Longissima. Jorge told me there was a Varied Thrush call in the tall firs, but I couldn't make it out. I made a sketch of the glacial outwash valley and braiding river of Nisqually (seen from the bridge):
When we got to Paradise, the landscape was entirely Subalpine Fir, Mountain Hemlock, and Yellow Cedar trees. There was about 10 feet of snow on the ground and we saw some orthographic lifting- clouds resting on the peak of Rainier. We heard the woomphs of the mating call of a male blue grouse and I saw a Dark-eyed Junco hopping around a tree well looking for cones. Here's a view from Paradise of Rainier and surrounding peaks:
Here are some bird comments from Nisqually:
The Yellow Warbler was in some cottonwoods near the parking lot, and was distinguishable because of its yellow body and faint red stripes on its chest. This bird makes a call that sounds like a trilling of "sweet sweet sweet i'm so sweet." The Vaux's swifts swooping above us are distinguishable from the swallows due to their quicker flapping and back-tilted wings. They have smaller bodies than the swallows. We also spotted a Wilson's Warbler beside the parking lot, which has a yellow chest, grayish wings, and with a black cap and a black eye. This warbler sings loud, rapid chatter like notes that drop down in pitch near the end. We also saw a Common Yellow Throat, which sings a "whitchity whitchity whitchity" call and has a black mask, a white stripe along its forehead, and a yellow body. On the boardwalk we saw a Bullock's Oriole, a bright orange, black and white bird. The American Goldfinch flew by, a flash of a black wing, yellow body, reddish head and wide beak. We saw many Brown Headed Cowbird the most memorable of which got pinned by the Yellow-Headed Blackbird probably for trying to parasitize her nest. The Cowbird call sounds like water, and the males are black-brown with lighter brown heads. The females are fully brown, and both the male and female have elegant wings and bodies that are easy to distinguish from the fat, triangular bodies of the European Starlings. As for the Yellow Headed, I think she was a female due to her spotty yellow patterning (or a juvenile male) and I couldn't find the mate. Farther out in the wetlands I saw a female Common Merganser and a female Hooded Merganser. The Hooded female had a horizontal white stripe on her wings when she flew and was primarily hazel colored with a wide, fluffy head. The Common female had a grayer body and a fluffy hazel head. I also saw a male Cinnamon Teal, Ring Necked Duck out in the Delta, as well as a Northern Shoveler, Greater Yellow Legs, Dunlin and American Widgeon, all resting in the grasses or dabbling in the marshy pools. An Orange-Crowned Warbler rested mid-canopy a tree besides the boardwalk. Orange Crowns have dull yellow bodies and grey heads. Dunlins, as they flew low over the marshes, flew in a switched back "Z" and flashed alternatively white/brown/white/brown as they flew based off which side of the wing I saw (they have brown on top of their wings and white beneath). On the way in we saw Cedar Waxwings resting in the young cedars next to the trail. These birds have a polished, yellow/brown/grey body with small red feathers on the end of their wings and a yellow skirt of tail feathers. They also have distinguishable black mask over their eyes, and make a high pitched hissy whistle as well as a trilled bzeee.
Narrative Bird Observations at the UBNA:
I'm sitting next to my pond site at the UBNA, keeping my eye on a Song Sparrow (My ID isn't positive, but based off the call I think this is right) I see flying around the pond and the general area. In my vicinity, I hear an American Robin calling steadily from the NE (near the cottonwood copse next to the water), Redwing Blackbird behind me (SE) and a little wren calling from a tree (Bewick's Wren?). The Song Sparrow is very buzzy, flinting from the tall solo Cottonwood tree in the middle of the grasslands to the low grasses. It seems to be catching insects around the grasses. The tall cottonwood tree seems to be a popular place for male birds to assert their territories, and right after the Songbird leaves the tree a large Redwing Blackbird rests in the mid-canopy, calling. The Song Sparrow is buzzing in the grass. A Gadwell flies over, and I can tell from the white patch what it is. The Song Sparrow goes to the muddy bank to pick around in the mud, maybe looking for insects. Afterwards, it goes and sits in the shrubby Oregon Ash east of me to call. I spot a Northern Flicker flying from the Cottonwood copse near the water to the tall solo cottonwood. I can tell what it is without binocs from its swoopy flight and dun colored body as it flies. The Northern Flicker has a long beak and red under its wings. It sits in the cottonwood and then flies back to the copse, making its territorial rounds. The gadwell swims around the pond, dabbling its beak into the water for insects. The Song sparrow flies low, in quick beats, over the grass in slight swoops (less swoopy then the Flicker). I can hear American Crows cawing near the water (NE). A Robin flies overhead (East). The Flicker continues to fly back and forth between the single cottonwood and the copse near the water. A House Finch appears, singing in the mid-canopy of the tall cottonwood, its red head visible to me without binocs, so it must be a male. High overhead I can see swallows, probably Tree Swallows and Violet Green Swallows. They hardly beat their wings and soar, swooping low to catch insects mid flight. The Song Sparrow is back up in the cottonwood, with no competition in sight. I see a Great Blue Heron flying over the lake in the distance, with huge wings and long flaps. A male Redwing continues to call to my east side, asserting its territory. I don't think this is the one that has been coming to the tall cottonwood, but another. I notice though, that the tall cottonwood can only be shared by birds of different species; for example, here were some combinations I saw- 1 crow, House Finch, Red Wing, Song sparrow, then 5 crows, then Song sparrow, Red Wing, 1 crow. When a solitary Red Wing was visited by another Red Wing, he was quickly chased out. The Song Sparrow continues to make triangular rounds between the tall cottonwood, the muddy banks of my pond, and the grasses to both call and feed. Occasionally this sparrow goes out of sight beyond the cottonwood, towards the north. The Gadwell is still skimming, and a Redwing has a territory N of me. The House finch couple fly off together from the cottonwood towards the water.
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