The map above shows most of the birding areas Ms. JG and I have visited in the past couple of years. Magnuson Park (#7), Union Bay Natural Area (#8) and the Arboretum (#9) are only a couple of miles from our house.
The Seattle area has many parks that bring a sense of the outdoors to the city. Only four blocks away is a park with an Osprey nest on top of one of the playfield’s light poles. Many birds and animals have made the city a home.
The Covid virus drastically changed our social life. We used to dance ballroom and contra at least once a week. We would travel domestically and internationally, hike and ski, go to art museums, attend plays or concerts and have friends over for dinner. Visiting daughters and their families in Portland and Olympia was a regular occurrence.
Since we are in the age group of higher Covid concern, we reduced our interaction with others drastically. Photography and birding had been something we both shared beforehand, and because we could be outdoors and maintain space from others, it was a perfect match.
Deciding to stretch our birding territory a bit, we ventured farther away from our home. To reduce the size of this DC, I didn’t include trips to Eastern Washington (Bucket on Burrowing Owls) or the Oregon Coast (Bucket on Oystercatchers).
At the other locations listed on the map, we got closer observations of the birds we see around the local area as well as those we rarely or never see in our area.
Samish area (#1)
Skagit area (#2)
Iverson Spit on Camano Island (#3)
Camano State Park (#4)
Edmonds waterfront (#5)
Juanita Bay Park (#6)
Following, in no specific order, are some of the special birds in poses or closeups that were made possible by expanding our “backyard”. Please let me know if I have incorrectly labeled any bird shown below.
I hope we all remembered to set our clocks ahead an hour. I’ll be out looking for Cooper’s Hawk nests for part of the morning, but will look forward to singing in the Chorus.