Union Bay Natural Area, UW campus, 5/23

After bird watching in the morning, our group decided to try the afternoon instead to compare what birds are out later in the day. We went at around 1pm and the weather was sunny with some clouds in the sky and about 63 degrees with some wind. I was doubtful that many birds would be there at all but almost immediately after walking on the pathway we heard the chickadees close by and could see birds in the distance.

The first bird we observed more closely than our morning walk was the Red-Winged Blackbird. They are right in the middle of their mating season so the males were very territorial and chasing crows out of their areas. Every time we saw one they were perched at the top of a small tree, flying, or on a cattail. The males are all black except for patches of orange on their shoulders and adult males have a yellow stripe below the patch to distinguish them from juveniles. The colors are extremely bold right now because of mating season. This black bird stays low to the ground and will eat mostly seeds. These birds are my favorite to watch because of their coloring and the way they interact with each other shows how sociable they are.

A new bird we had not seen in the morning was the Barn Swallow and the Violet Green Swallow.
Violet Green Swallow: Throughout the whole UBNA area their call is loud and very distinct from other bird calls because of the 'chee-chee' sound. The only place we spotted this bird (along with the Barn Swallow) was flying close to the water in one of the ponds. Adult males have a dark green back and a white underbelly, while the female has a more gray-brown back coloring. This bird is only found in the American West and will only be in marshy areas. Trying to take a picture of this bird was next to impossible because they dart from tree to tree very quickly and will catch insects in mid-flight. Their population has been slightly reduced because of the presence of the House Sparrow and the European Starling, however, they make good use of human made nest boxes which helps preservation efforts. The best time to observe this swallow is in the April-August months in the mountains, coastal areas and plateaus.
Barn Swallow: The Barn Swallow was also found in the same pond as the Violet Green Swallow flying around extremely fast from point-a to point-b. The coloring for this swallow is a steely blue back, wings and tail for both males and females. The easiest way to distinguish the two swallows besides coloring is the tails. Barn Swallows have a forked tail and looking up at them it is easily visible.

Again we heard the chickadee call but this time it was not only a Black-Capped Chickadee but a Golden-Crowned Chickadee as well. The calls are similar and both species hang out in aspen trees because of the smooth bark. The easiest way to tell the two birds apart is the yellow patch on the top of the golden chickadee's head opposed to the black streaks on the black-capped chickadee.

While walking along the water edge we saw two turtles sitting on a log. At first they were so still they seemed fake but one of them slid into the water and we caught a glimpse of orange streaks on its head. Swimming among the water lilies were mallards, northern shovelers and herons again.

Species List:
Red-Winged Blackbirds
Crows
Black-Capped Chickadee
Golden-Crowned Chickadee
Violet Green Swallow
Barn Swallow
Great Blue Heron
Aspen Tree
Turtles
Wren
Northern Shoveler

Again, to learn more information about these birds at UBNA follow this link: http://uwbirds.blogspot.com/

For the photos: http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/university-of-washington-song-birds

Posted on June 2, 2012 05:47 AM by