If you follow the sound of scolding crows, you will either run across a Bald Eagle or a Barred Owl. Lucky for me, I ran into both. While taking notes for my Final at least 20 crows came flying by chasing a Bald Eagle, so close to me I could feel the wind. Later I followed the scolding and saw a male (based on his small size) and 3 Barred Owl chicks. The Chicks were fairly large but still had their gray fuzz. The male flew at a short tree and a bird flew off and he came back up with a worm. Either he dove for the bird, missed and took the worm, or he was planning on taking the worm from the bird in the first place. He didn't eat the worm though, he just that there with it in his mouth watching me. A great experience that early morning to see 2 different kinds of birds of prey.
I have found I have gotten very good at spotting and hearing hummingbirds. They tend to sit at the very top of trees, on thin branches with no leaves, and they don't seem to have a specific time of day they are out. They also don't sit still for very long, probably because they need a massive amount of food vs their body weight. I have only seen a few types in Seattle though, and none of them were very colorful, but it could be the time of year. I hope to visit the San Diego Zoo's Hummingbirds sometime soon. I am planning on talking to John Marzluff to see if he knows of anyone working on Hummingbirds or small Song Birds and try to volunteer with them. Hopefully I can also get a good enough camera to take better pictures of them.
Starting off my walk into the Union Bay Natural Area, I was greeted by a Killdeer walking on the trail in front of me. Then, I came across a male and female Gadwall eating the grass near the parkinglot. Further down the path to the right, in the field of tall grass were some purple flowers, and a Savannah Sparrow was perched on them. All along my walk were many Red-Winged Blackbirds singing and chasing eachother, being territorial and noisy. At a pond there were many different waterfowl together. Then, on the cat tails by the Sound was a noisy Buick's Wren. A Cinammon Teal pair were just waking up in a closed off area of a pond. Then, a Fox Sparrow was sitting at the top of a tree by a makeshift trail through the tall grass towards the water. I followed this and saw a Bald Eagle across the water. I then did another loop and came across a Hummingbird that had one small patch of color on it's neck, and a female Mallard and her ducklings swimming down the creek. I heard a bird song that sounded different from what I had heard so far and found an American Goldfinch, but it quickly flew away. In the area where we did drawing practice, I almost stepped on a baby bird, possibly a sparrow. In the distance at the top of a tree was a Cedar Waxwing, and finally on my way back out of the UBNA, sitting in some bushes was a yellow breasted small bird. On the way up the hill behind McMahon I saw a red House Finch, but it flew up into the tree before I could get my camera out. I believe it's nest is somewhere back there. Overall, getting up at 6:30am is worth it to see all these birds.
This Bald Eagle I saw on a cloudy day on a rock on the Sound in the UBNA. He was eating a very large fish, possibly a carp, for at least 20 minutes. I could not find a way to get closer than what I was, when I tried I scared off a Great Blue Heron that I had not seen because I was so focused on the Eagle.
This class has been my favorite of all the classes I have taken at UW. While Envir 200 killed my will to be an Environmental Studies major, this class revived it. Being out in the wilderness and doing hands-on learning is one of the best ways anyone can learn. Using the iNaturalist App helped greatly in this class, and was a very smart idea. I have learned many things in this class about how to take notes and sketches, and about plants and animals. This class has made me realize how much I enjoy birds, especially Hummingbirds, and it has introduced me to the Union Bay Natural Area. Finally a class that I will use after college and for the rest of my life.
Thank you Susan and Josh.
