Birds!

Daily Account: Birds!

Tuesday May 29, 2012

Union Bay Natural Area

Today we returned to UBNA to learn about birds and waterfowl. We saw and learned lots of interesting things, and it was interesting to observe how the place has changed since the first time we went there back in April. First, the grass and other plants have grown so much, now as tall as we are they once barely reached my knees in places. The Nootka Roses (Rose nutkana) are in full bloom, the yellow irises (Iris pseudacorus) are also abundant and growing all around the common cattails Typha latifolia) also extremely abundant, which haven’t changed noticeably since my first visit. There were still lots of dried out flowers of Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) their stalks tall, I wonder when they flower. Their dried flowers look like brown snowflakes to me, all on a larger flake. I noticed lots of Black Cottonwood tree tufts (Populus balsamifera) covering the sides of the path and floating in the air, something I’ve noticed more this year than ever, though I suspect this is because I didn’t know what a cottonwood was and didn’t spend enough time outside at this time of year to realize how those little white puffs with seeds inside are everywhere! I’ve also notice this especially at Seward Park, and along the Burke Gilman trail. As for UBNA, I noticed the seeds before the trees, but looking around, the cottonwood is actually fairly abundant in this location. I also noticed lots of willows and what I think might have been Red-Osier Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera), though I’m not one hundred percent sure of this and would like to go back and check, since it wasn’t completely in bloom this time.

As far as birds go, we heard several, and didn’t manage to spot all of them, but the bird group opened my eyes as to the number of different species of birds just in that small area. We saw an American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis), mostly bright yellow, with black and gray on its wings sitting in a tall shrub just off the road. I’m pretty sure this was the one they mentioned was making so much noise in the background in the beginning, because this was in the same location. I wonder if (s)he has a nest nearby, and was calling at us, or communicating with another bird. How far do these birds usually go from their nests? Does the distance a bird travels from its nest depend on wing size? Also, I’ve noticed that some birds don’t seem to care when someone comes near the tree they’re in, but some will make noise until you leave. Is this something that has to do with their nest site, or being used to humans?

We also saw a Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum), which looked somewhat like a jay with the shape of its head. It had a grayish-yellow body with a black mask over the eyes. I wonder if they developed this because it’s better for hunting if their eyes don’t stand out as much. It they usually eat insects, berries, and petals though, so perhaps this isn’t the case. In any event, this was the only one we saw, and it was somewhat nearby the lake (about 50ft away), and I think it was in a cottonwood tree. Nearby we heard, but did not see a Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) making the sound “chicka-dee-dee-dee,” a very common bird in the area, but smaller so not obvious among the trees. Farther down the path we saw a Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) calling “I seeeee you” sitting in a leafless tree that was about ten feet tall. They also like to perch on the cattails in the marsh. Both of these locations are open and not clustered with lots of leaves. Is this characteristic of Red-winged blackbirds because of where they live or because it is easier for them to hunt this way? They could very well be connected, but I find it interesting that these are the places where they like to perch. Same for the Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna), which I’m pretty sure we saw as well, sitting at the tip of a tall tree with no leaves at the top, similar to the red-winged blackbird. I think it might have been a male, because of the somewhat territorial act, but females might do this too. From far away its head looked scruffier than the female I saw at Seward Park, so this could be too. A few Savannah Sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis) flew by us and landed on the path near the cattails and irises, and hopped along instead of hanging out in the trees or air like many of the other birds we saw.

Closer to an inner pond, we saw several mallards, and flying above were lots of Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica), a bird I’d managed to catch sitting still a few weeks ago in the same location. Apparently they catch their prey (insects) in flight, diving down and weaving back up through the air. I think this also means they must be eating and flying at the same time. Isn’t it energetically costly for them to fly so much for food? This is exactly what we saw them doing, and there were at least ten of them zooming in and out of the air space above the pond. Other than geese and mallard ducks, I think these birds were most commonly concentrated in one place. They had blue backs and brownish-orange undersides, and their tail feathers split like a fork in the back. Also flying around in the area, (and these could have accounted for one or two of the barn swallows I thought I was seeing, it was hard to tell even with binoculars), was the Violet Green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina), with a white belly and green back.

Apparently there are usually Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) that spend their time here as well, however, they migrate north after winter’s over, so we didn’t see any today. We did see them up at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge, perhaps because the weather was still wintery then. According to the person leading us, they can lift the feathers on their head, making them looking bigger, to attract mates. They are also smaller in the realm of waterfowl because they have evolved to nest in the cavities of the Northern Flickers. This is interesting, I’ve never thought about where waterfowl might nest, and I know some nest right in the marsh, but it seems odd that they would pick a cavity of a Northern Flicker, as it seems it would be far from the water. Why would they do this? They are also monogamous birds, dive for food, and have a similar strategy to meerkats when it comes to working in groups. Apparently, one bufflehead stays above the water on lookout, while the rest have their heads submerged for food.
Returning to the subject of mallards, apparently they can fly up to 60mph when migrating (I’d never realized they migrate before...to where?). They’re called dabbling ducks for the way they eat, and prefer shallow areas, like the one in which we observed them (shallow pond), and females can lay up to half their body weight in eggs, which is actually quite a bit, seeing as the eggs have to come from somewhere. The Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus), is another interesting bird, and I have to laugh at myself now for not understanding the difference between this and the Buffleheads up at Nisqually, since they are quite different in appearance. We didn’t actually seed the mergansers here today either, but learned some interesting things. Their young usually find food for themselves almost immediately (though this is like other waterfowl), and their diets are quite diverse including fish, frogs, clams, insects and insect larvae. According to something I was reading they have “extreme muscular gizzards to help them grind down the exoskeletons of shellfish.” I wonder how this affects where one might look for them. It seems we wouldn’t expect to see them in that pond since it doesn’t seem quite as diverse, but that may not be true. Someone asked whether they close their eyes under water. Apparently, they can also change the index of refraction on their eyes turning them into a kind of goggle so they have good sight underwater. That’s amazing! I wonder how they adapt to all the mud in the water, it seems like that would make things difficult. We also saw some Canadian Geese (Branta canadensis) offshore in the lake.

I forgot to mention, in the pond we saw a lone duckling, very small and young probably about the size of my fist. I didn’t see any other ducklings or adult birds nearby, so I’m wondering if this bird was lost, or whether it was just out foraging for itself. I know someone in the group mentioned these birds and many waterfowl have young that learn to feed by themselves soon after being born. This may be the case, however, I find it odd, because in the past few days, I’ve seen three or four groups of baby ducks, slightly different ages/sizes meaning they hatched at different times, but they were all being herded by their mothers, or the mother was close by. Perhaps since this was such a small pond the mothers don’t need to stay so close, but it’s still interesting to see one by itself. We also saw a turtle sitting on a log. It was larger than the turtles I’d seen over near the arboretum, and had a smoother and more shiny shell. I think it might have been a Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta) and the ones I saw by the arboretum were something else, maybe Western Pond Turtles (Clemmys marmorata). It was pretty far away and hard to tell its exact markings, but I think it had some dull yellow on its neck too.

One other thing I found interesting was the point about male mallard ducks. Someone pointed out that the males leftover who haven’t mated or paired with a female yet will basically gang up on her and “rape” her, something I’ve never actually seen, and it’s hard to believe since they seem so docile. On the other hand, the other night, I was walking through the arboretum and stopped to observe a large group of ducks standing and swimming around in the shallow water next to the shore. I’m not sure if this was a coincidence, but there were at least ten ducks, and all of them were male except for one female. It didn’t phase me at the time, because they were all standing together not really being too active, though two males stood like body guards especially close to the female. A friend and I stood there for awhile, and they didn’t do much, all somewhat statues with their feet submerged. They aligned themselves in somewhat of a line, and after awhile they began to swim away in groups of two or three, most of the males first. Just before this, thought I don’t know if this event is related, a Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) came swimming around the same area, nearing the ducks and then swimming away. I don’t know how these two species interact, but I thought it was interesting that the ducks began to “migrate” across the waterway after this happened.

Specieds List:

Yellow Iris (Iris pseudacorus)
Nootka Roses (Rose nutkana)
Black Cottonwood tree tufts (Populus balsamifera)
Red-Osier Dogwood (Cornus stolonifera)
American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus)
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna)
Savannah Sparrows (Passerculus sandwichensis)
the Violet Green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina)
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
Canadian Geese (Branta canadensis)
Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta)
Western Pond Turtles (Clemmys marmorata).

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)
Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica)
Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota)