We* set off on a shopping trip to buy some yard art on Camano Island. The yard art we were shopping for is made in Mexico from steel drums cut and shaped into farm animals like roosters, goats, and pigs. It’s top-notch kitsch yard art. Like all our little road trips, a walk or hike is part of the deal. Near the yard art store was the Stanwood wastewater pond, a birding hotspot. A nice paved trail goes around the pond providing for excellent viewing of birds along the shore and out on the water. The surrounding farmland is good for birds that like open country. The title photo shows the pond. So, we enjoyed a pleasant walk around the pond and saw a few birds and things.
First off, some preliminary location details.
General vicinity, which includes several great birding hotspots as the discerning eye can readily see. The Stanwood wastewater pond is highlighted yellow in the center.
Satellite view of the Stanwood wastewater pond. The paved trail goes along three sides of it; the west, south, and east sides.
Early in the walk, I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk perched on a utility pool. It was distant and the scene was brightly backlit making for a tricky and unsatisfying photograph. The blue-green glass insulator is probably the coolest thing about this photo.
Red-tailed Hawk
I had received by email the day before about a rarity sighted at the pond: an Eared Grebe. They are sighted around here infrequently, by far outnumbered by Horned Grebes. Eared and Horned Grebes look very similar in nonbreeding plumage. A distinguishing feature is the head peak. Horned Grebe: head peak behind the eye. Eared Grebe: head peak above the eye like the one in the photo.
Eared Grebe from far away.
The biggest surprise was finding about 30 Long-billed Dowitchers, all gathered at the southeastern corner of the pond, perched on some concrete footings. I was able to get quite close.
Long-billed Dowitchers
Long-billed Dowitchers
There were a few gulls and most that I observed were 1st cycle Ring-billed Gulls like this one.
Ring-billed Gull, 1st cycle.
There were a fair number of ducks out in the middle area of the pond. They were too far out to get a positive ID. I think they were mainly Scaups and Ring-necked Ducks which show up in large numbers in the coming weeks. One Northern Harrier swooped in over the fields; gone before I could get my lens on it.
Grasshoppers like resting on trails and paved paths. They blend in. They spring up out of nowhere, flying off a short distance going klackityklack. I snuck up on this one to get this photo with my phone.
Two-striped Grasshopper (Melanoplus bivittatus)
I know by now you’re wondering about the yard art. We added a few more to our collection after this trip. Here’s where we got our latest additions.
The Spare Room — Vintage Market. Camano Island, WA. (Google Street View)
The latest additions:
The cactus
The rooster
The pig
That’s all the excitement I have today. I have other Buckets I’m thinking of since we go somewhere at least once a week that usually involves being outdoors in nature.
Consider this an open thread since I’m not sure when this will get posted and not sure what I’m doing on any particular day. So, go ahead and jibber jabber among yourselves. I’ll catch up.
* “We” always means me and my wife.
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THE DAILY BUCKET IS A NATURE REFUGE. WE AMICABLY DISCUSS
ANIMALS, WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, WATERS AND NOTE LIFE’S PATTERNS.
WE INVITE YOU TO NOTE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AROUND YOU
IN YOUR OWN PART OF THE WORLD,
AND TO SHARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PURPOSE AND HISTORY OF THE DAILY BUCKET FEATURE,
CHECK OUT THIS DIARY:
DAILY BUCKET PHENOLOGY: 14 YEARS OF RECORDING EARTH'S VITAL SIGNS
IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS
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