Posted April 29, 2012 from Seattle, WA Here on Beacon Hill, the first big wave of the Warbler migration hit on the 26th of April. As usual the majority of birds are Yellow-rumped Warblers (one male shown scanning for danger before bathing) headed north and upward to the mtns, but Orange-crowned Warblers and Wilson’s … Continue reading
Posted April 12, 2012 from Seattle Our male Violet-green Swallow came to wait for a mate on March 28, a nice day in a cold stretch, and then again on April 5. But either she came to him or he found her and brought her back but they spent April 9 sitting within a foot … Continue reading
Posted March 25, 2012 from Seattle, WA Delia and I went up to Two Rivers Wildlife Management Unit south of Monroe, WA yesterday and experienced moments of Two Rivers magic. We got out of the car and were helpfully shown a Bittern in the slough by some other birders. We would have sailed by and … Continue reading
Posted March 18, 2012 from Seattle Not every venture into nature is equally divine. Today Delia and I and our friend Sherry Lee visited the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge and saw lots of great sights but also some signs that some of the critters were as annoyed by the weather as we were. We got close … Continue reading
Posted March 11, 2012 from Beacon Hill, Seattle Every year it’s bound to happen to you if you’re a year-bird-lister, It’s only a question of when: That first trip of the year that doesn’t yield anything new for the year. To be fair, going to Alki from Beacon Hill barely counts as a “trip,” but … Continue reading
Posted Feb. 29, 2012 from Seattle An Anna’s Hummingbird is nesting in our backyard Italian Plum for at least the third year in a row. We have no way of knowing if this is all the same individual. Presuming it is, two years ago she raised two beautiful hummers but last year her nest was … Continue reading
Posted Jan 31, 2012 from Seattle. Delia and I started the month off and running with our year- bird list (see last post) but immediately fell off of our last-year’s pace. We did however see this gorgeous Pileated Woodpecker at the Nisqually. You should see the poses that got away, though—it was pretty dark in … Continue reading
Posted Jan.9, 2012 from Seattle Delia’s and my BigYear is off to a great start—We passed 100 species for the country in the quickest time ever for us. On New Year’s Day we left Di Ann’s Mountain Valley Resort in Rodeo (We stayed there so we wouldn’t have to go back up the Canyon after … Continue reading
Posted October 27 2011 from Seattle, WA Delia and I went to Sequim for a long weekend Oct 21-23. We were somewhat sequimish about going when we saw the weather forecast, but whenever we got out of the car and started hiking, the rain let up and the sun came out. This was a … Continue reading
Posted October 3, 2011 from Seattle, WA. Some birds are engaged in a rapid expansion of their range Northward into Western Washington. The Anna’s Hummingbird exploded northward and the Western Scrub Jay is marching quickly north. Other bird species seem to be taking two steps forward, one step back. In the case of the gorgeous … Continue reading
