Birding Around Stanwood

My irises 2 days after the last blog entry!

But I digress. Spring is moving in around here. Lots of happenings. Yesterday a friend and I went birdwatching for a few hours around Stanwood. The best sighting? The violet green and tree swallows have returned! As the snow geese and swan numbers dwindle the swallows and hummingbirds return as our early spring arrivals. There's nothing quite like watching the swallows dive around while hearing a common snipe winnowing in the background and a couple of western meadowlarks attempting to sing. Yes, meadowlarks winter in small flocks on the westside of the Cascades.  They disappear in the tall grass of the fallow pastures so they can be hard to spot. We also found 2 of the black-crowned night-herons in their roosting tree. Not an easy task. They are well hidden amongst the evergreen branches. Easy to know where to look since it is the only evergreen tree around.

The genral list of birds seen in about 4 hours were:

several golden-crowned sparrows                      

killdeer; also probable flocks of dunlin with a black-bellied plover hanging out

northern shovelers

mallards and lots of northern pintails and American wigeon

numerous red-tail hawks and some excellent looks at a few rough-legged hawks

Robins and spotted towhees

a decent view of a merlin (although my passenger couldn't see it)

lots of northern harriers hunting and an American kestrel at its designated post

ring-necked ducks and a lone male common goldeneye in a stormwater pond

the ever present bald eagles

lots 0f great blue herons

5 yellowlegs

and a half-dozen Eurasian collared doves (the latest non-native species to arrive)

All in all a good bird day. Heck, we didn't get of the truck for more than a few minutes at a time. That was one brisk wind yesterday!

Osoberry (aka Indian plum) with red osier dogwood behind

As for plants- oh my gosh! The osoberry are really lighting up the forest. If you have allergies you may be feeling the effects of the red alder pollinating. The red catkins also add color to the gray and browns of the winter forest.

red alder catkins

I also saw flowering skunk cabbage and snowberry, ocean spray and red elderberry leaves emerging. The red elderberry will be the next to fully leaf out. Unlike red flowering currant which flowers before its leaves show up.

The end of the day, on the way home topped it all off. As I was driving on the island along the road I saw two huge bald eagles chasing each other back and forth over the road extremely low. As I got closer they swooped in and one was so close I could have seen the whites of its eyes if it had hem. That was a spectacular end to a wonderful spring day. (yes i know spring doesn't officially start until tomorrow at 10pmish). Happy spring!

Just to be is a blessing.

Just to live is holy.

Rabbi Abraham Heschel