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Week Fifty-two, March 11-17, 2002

Sunday, March 17, 2002

Back to the book research today. We didn't get off to an early start this morning, due to the snow on the ground and our desire to sleep in a bit, and so today we visited just two sites for Birding Washington - the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-tailed Deer and Puget Island.

I took the shot of an American Kestrel above when we were about to leave Julia Butler Hansen this afternoon. The kestrel sat there on the wire and looked around for food, nearly oblivious to our presence as I slowly rolled the car into close range so that Natalie and her parents could get a good view. This is the longest amount of time I have spent looking at a kestrel, and we learned something new from the experience - that kestrels also have dark patches on the back of their heads that can look like false eyes, much as the pygmy owl has false eyes on the back of its head.

There were a lot of other birds to see at Julia Butler Hansen this morning. While snow melted from the refuge office roof behind us, we watched an unbelievably large gathering of American Robins as well as a trio of Northern Harrier, a handful of Red-tailed hawks and a few swallows that I think were tree swallows (although Natalie thought they might be violet-green swallows). I kept hoping that we would see the White-tailed kites that had been seen at the refuge yesterday, but we missed them. And there were no signs of the evening grosbeaks that someone reported seeing yesterday either.

I took the shot above looking across a small waterway that leads to the Columbia River in the distance. Despite the snow on the hillsides and the cool temperatures, it was a great day for being out to watch birds!

After driving the 7-plus mile route at Julia Butler Hansen, we ate lunch in Cathlamet and then took the bridge over to Puget Island for a quick whirl along the back roads on this largely agricultural island. Although Puget Island has many of the same birds that can be seen a few miles away at Julia Butler Hansen, it is an easy route to bird from the car and it often will have one or two species on a given day that cannot be found at the refuge. That is the reason we are including it in the book.

We drove back home to Tacoma tonight, with another week of work ahead before we make our first book trip to Eastern Washington next weekend.

Saturday, March 16, 2002

We are again on the road this weekend, this time combining work and family with a visit to my grandmother where she is in the hospital in the outskirts of Portland, an overnight tonight at Natalie's parents' home in Longview and some more bird book research. We didn't end up doing much birding today, but I was still able to find some interesting photos.

The surprise of the day was snow. There was about a half-inch of snow on the ground in Tacoma when we left this morning, and we ran into snow off-and-on during the drive to Longview. Then we met Natalie's parents at the Longview Yacht Club and that gave us the chance to watch some birds - scaup, Great Blue Heron and a single Bald Eagle. The first photo I took above shows (just barely in this small version) a single scaup in the Columbia River as a multitude of big, wet snowflakes fall. And the second photo below was also taken while the snow fell - a Great Blue Heron shot taken through the spotting scope and slightly blurred by the snow that was falling between my spot inside the yacht club's clubhouse and the opposite bank of the channel that funnels part of the Columbia River between Fisher Island and Willow Grove Road.

After our short time at the yacht club, Natalie and I drove into Oregon and visited my grandmother. She seems to be doing a lot better than I expected, thankfully.

We returned to Natalie's parents tonight and as we sat watching TV I noticed that some snow was building up on the back porch. I glanced out and it was falling hard, with more of the big-wet flakes starting to build up on everything. It snowed hard enough that we could no longer watch TV on their satellite dish, so we returned to reading as usual and I watched the snow off and on. At one point before heading to bed I heard a branch break from one of the trees behind the house, sending a cascade of snow and wood to the ground somewhere in the nearby woods.

Friday, March 15, 2002

Back in business. Just in time and nearly $700 later, we have the station wagon, otherwise known as the book research mobile, back in commission. I was able to walk down and pick up the car this afternoon before my work kept me busy into the early evening.

As crazy as it may seem, the weather report this afternoon predicts snow overnight for some parts of Western Washington. But my mind has shifted. Snow would be a nice surprise, but the bright blues and oranges and yellows of tonight's sunset show promise of the spring to come. I'm ready for the longer days, time spent in the garden, and the warmth.

Thursday, March 14, 2002

It poured down rain on me this evening as I biked over to visit M, and with temperatures in the mid-30s it was hard to stay warm, even with the breeze at my back on the bike ride home. But spring is coming. And when it does arrive, the seedlings - tomatoes, broccoli and peppers - that grow under lights in our house will be ready to start the season.

Wednesday, March 13, 2002

Our car is out of service, again. On Monday night when Natalie was starting her drive home from her current temp job the tie rod broke on the driver's side of the Ford Taurus. And so, while it is being repaired, I am home without a vehicle during the day. Funny, but it isn't a lot different than normal. I go for weeks sometimes without ever driving the pickup, and even though I have been driving more since Natalie had to start doing temporary work last fall, it is good for me to have this opportunity to ride one of my bikes around town for everyday errands. Meanwhile, my fingers are crossed that the Taurus will be fixed and ready for our birding research this weekend.

Natalie and I ended up taking a short walk along the rim of Mason Gulch this evening, as she saw me walking toward the gulch and parked the pickup as she drove home to join me in watching gold crowned sparrows and fox sparrows in the brush along the southern edge of the gulch. I took the photo above looking north over the dark waters to Vashon Island, with a white flag pole flying a U.S. flag in the foreground.

Tuesday, March 12, 2002

While Nature takes a turn toward spring here in the Pacific Northwest, I heard some sad news about my grandmother today. Her health is failing and she is in the hospital right now, getting ready to face a few weeks of dialysis before surgeons feel she will be strong enough to face surgery that could help her recover the use of her remaining, partially functional kidney. My grandmother is 81, and when I was real young, between the time I was born to the time I moved north to the Olympia area with my family, my grandparents spent a lot of time taking car of me and my brothers. I hope she gets better soon...

In light of the health news, Natalie and I are moving our bird research south this weekend. We will visit my grandparents Saturday and then stay with Natalie's parents while we get out and do research in the deep reaches of southwestern Washington.

Being short on time once again today, I snapped my photo right along the front porch, where the yellow blooms on our forsythia bush are putting on a show.

Monday, March 11, 2002

I slipped outside around sunset to snap a few photos in the yard, as a cool breeze blew out of the west and the temperatures dropped as quickly as the sun. After all the cold and odd weather of last week, things have returned to normal today - some sun, a few brief showers and breezy. It sounds like spring!

I neglected to mention an interesting bird story from yesterday. Around dusk I went out to fill the bird feeders, and as soon as I walked near the feeders I noticed a pine siskin stuck inside one of the feeders. Somehow it had squeezed under the glass, probably trying to reach more food, and it was completely stuck. So, I opened the top of the hamper and gently urged the bird out of the feeder. It flew off like nothing had happened, seeming no worse for the wear.

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