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Week Fifty-Eight, April 22-28, 2002

Sunday, April 28, 2002

After the drama of the shorebird migration yesterday, it was a real change of pace to drive to the Olympic Peninsula and up 2,800 foot Mt. Walker to see what we would find on a partly cloudy spring day. What we found was of course the great views, first looking southeast across the Hood Canal and back toward Tacoma (in the photo above), and then looking west to the snow-capped spine of the Olympic Mountains.

Compared to the abundant bird life along Grays Harbor, today's visit was pretty sparse. But we did get a great view of a migrating Peregrine Falcon as it soared past us at the eastern lookout, and when we moved to the western lookout we found the familiar Gray Jays begging for food and following our every move, while a California Tortoiseshell butterfly kept on the move to find a warm rock in the sunshine where it could finally warm up after the long winter of hibernating. I chased the tortoiseshell all over the place trying to get a photo, and when I had finally given up and we were getting back in the car to drive home and get rid of our allergy headaches, the butterfly twice landed on top of the car right in front of me - posing for some great photos!

No wonder this is one of my favorite nature viewing spots in Western Washington. Every time we visit we find something interesting. We also watched a tiny chipmunk feeding in the parking area right in front of our car - likely a Yellow-Pine Chipmunk.

Saturday, April 27, 2002

What happens when a two-year-old boy with a red bucket discovers his power over shorebirds? The shot above shows the result. We watched this scene unfold along with many others during our shorebird watching at Bottle Beach this afternoon. We drove to Bottle Beach after selling a couple handfuls of our Insiders' Guide to the Olympic Peninsula books at the Grays Harbor Shorebird Festival.

This time we had our visit to this shallow, sandy beach timed just right, as we arrived just after high tide to find hundreds of shorebirds flocking and feeding along the water's edge. Most of the bird were Dunlin and Western Sandpipers, but there were also Short-billed Dowitchers, Black-Bellied Plovers, Semipalmated Plovers and others in the mix. The spring migration that was just getting started last weekend when we visited Bowerman Basin on the other side of Grays Harbor was in full swing today. We even watched as a female Merlin made a pass at the shorebirds in search of easy dinner. She missed the mark and landed in a small fir tree right behind where Natalie and I were taking photos.

This was an encouraging day of birding. We confirmed that we continue to learn more about how to identify the birds, but we also spent time talking with other birders at the festival and met some of the movers and shakers in the bird watching community while selling our book. Positive reinforcement is a good thing.

Friday, April 26, 2002

A small wave of American Goldfinches joined the birds at our feeders today, making this the first time that I can remember seeing goldfinches in our yard.

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