The Daily Bucket is a place to catch your casual observations of the natural world and turn them into a valuable resource. Whether it's the first flowers of spring or that odd bug in your basement, don't be afraid to toss your thoughts into the bucket. Check here for a more complete description.
I've been hesitant to use the weekly birdlist as a diary but never posted last week's and am a little rushed right now, so here it is.
Tuesday May 3, 2011
Seattle. Three locations along the SW shore of Lake Washington.
50%- 90% cloud cover. Temperature mid 50s.
1:00pm - 4.30pm.
Birds seen.
38 Species
Common Loon
Double Crested Cormorant
Canada Goose
Gadwall
Mallard
Ring-necked Duck
Common Merganser
Glaucous-winged Gull
Great Blue Heron
Killdeer
Osprey
Rock Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Northern Flicker
Violet-green Swallow
Barn Swallow
Vaux Swift
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bushtit
Bewick's Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
Hermit Thrush
Warbling Vireo
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Empidonax sp.
Starling
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed cowbird
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Spotted Towee
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Of note:
Warblers! Wilson's, Orange-crowned, Yellow-rumped. Spring.
The first Warbling Vireos of the year. Previous spring arrival dates range from May 9 - 15. They're early this year.
Most of the winter ducks are gone. Only the Buffleheads and Ring-necked Ducks remain. They'll be leaving over the next couple of weeks, though I expect a few stragging Buffleheads to remain through the middle of June.
I couldn't get a positive ID on last week's swifts. This week I'm certain that the ones overhead were Vaux Swifts.
One unidentified Empidonax Flycatcher. They are so hard. This one was small, nondescript, mostly buffy grey. Hammond's perhaps? Ah, but Hammond's hang out in mature coniferous forests at higher elevations than this. This guy was found in a swampy alder/willow thicket at sea level. Pacific-slope perhaps, but so nondescript; I expect a little more yellow on Pacific-slope. I'll call it Empidonax sp. to be safe, and am happy to have spotted it.
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I've reported a quarter year of lists since the beginning of the Bucket. Is anyone interested in a quarterly report kind of thing? Stuff like how many species were seen between mid-Feb and mid-May, which ones were most commonly seen, maybe a graph or two showing how sightings for a couple of species changed (or didn't change) over that time? Or?
Let me know in the comments and if there's interest I'll try to put something together.
I'll be on the road for 6 days starting tomorrow and will have little access to the computer. Back next Wednesday. Yins put up some buckets, OK?
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What's happening in your part of the world?