On Friday, my wife and I took a walk in the park. This was an amazing to us walk in the park.
Follow along with us at Magnuson Park in Seattle, Washington as the walk unfolds. Lots of photos follow.
Two Bald eagles in a tree by the water was our first treat. The mature eagle on the right was close to the immature on the left. After being a model for a few minutes, the adult flew off. The immature basked in the limelight (at least it didn’t leave.)
A Common goldeneye was our next treat. It was swimming close to the land so we followed it. We noticed dozens more out farther, but the treat of a nearby duck was exciting.
All of a sudden, I saw my wife gesturing subtly so as not to disturb the bird she found. I moved to her location and she quietly pointed out a bird on the ground. She told me she had just about stepped on it because she was looking at the goldeneye, not the ground in front of her. The bird was only about 15 feet away from us.
Downy woodpecker examining a tree root for a snack zoom
We thought it must be a young Downy woodpecker to have such little fear of us. I missed a photo of the woodpecker with a big, juicy grub because I was trying to get a video. The following are some other shots of it in action.
After it fed for awhile it took off looking for another good food source.
While I watched it fly from one spot to the next, my attention was taken by another bird in a nearby bush.
A Ruby-crowned kinglet was peeking at me from behind a twig
I focused back on the woodpecker for another look.
The birds cleared out so we walked on.
We neared a beach where there are many swimmers in the summer. Some ducks walked up the bank from the beach and started eating the tasty, to them, grass on the lawn.
male American wigeon zoom
American wigeon pair
There were many more in the water. As we watched, a flurry of feathers showed they were all flying off. I have learned to look up when I see this behavior.
Eagles flying over create quite a flurry of flying feathers. (love alliteration)
We had witnessed a week’s worth of birding highlights, so we headed home on a road past some ponds. Both of us are tuned to shapes of birds in trees. A large bird was seen fairly close to the road.
A second year Cooper’s hawk was viewing his domain. After looking at my records, I was present during the banding of this bird. It’s a male but is so large it took a female’s size band. I had photographed it on August 26th at this same park. It was sighted on Sept. 1 and December 30th by other people. My sighting on the 5th of February was the fourth sighting. At the end of this month, we start looking for nest building or rebuilding and pairs calling for each other. That will be the start of 5 months of watching. I will be writing a Chorus in the future about my banding experience which I think readers will find interesting.
Our hearts full, my wife and I returned home where I spent the next few hours reviewing the wonders of the day.
Now it’s your turn. I look forward to responding to your viewing of my diary, but even more so hearing about what is up in your corner of the world.
