OLDER DUCKLINGS! These ducklings were darker and bigger than the little yellow ones.
DUCKLINGS! Little teeny tiny baby ducklings. These were the littlest ducklings I saw on Sunday. They still had a lot of yellow on them. They attempted to jump to land where their parents were in the grass from a log and fell every time back into the water. Then they all swam away.
Dark gray seagull. I know that when they are dark like this, they are young adolescent seagulls. I just don't know if he is glaucous-winged or some other kind yet.
I saw this same osprey on Sunday the 27th and on the next day (today), Monday. He was perched in a tree for a long time watching the water and the ducks before taking off to soar and look for fish. He often came back to land on the same tree. I had never seen an osprey so close before.
I could also hear the osprey chirping while circling the park. His voice was much cuter than I thought it would be. It was high-pitched and made short little whistling calls.
I know its hard to see, but this is the silhouette of a kingfisher. He sat on the top of the sail to a boat at coulon park. Then he flew away and made a call. When I zoom in on the photo, I can see that there is a white stripe on the bird's neck, so I identified it as a belted kingfisher. Also, when I saw it fly away, it appeared to be blue.
When it flew by me from the boat and into a tree, it made a loud, high-pitched, clicking, rattling call.
saw this tall conifer at coulon park. not sure what it is yet. There were sharp spikes coming out of each needle and the branches started low to the ground. Also, all the pinecones were at the very top of the tree. Needles reminded me of a cedar's needles.
Saw this tree at coulon park
Saw a turtle sitting on a floating log at Coulon Park. When I zoomed in on the picture, I could sort of see yellowish stripes on its neck, so I decided it was a Painted Turtle. I saw this turtle around 2:00 pm. Soon after I took the picture, he crawled into the water and swam away.
I saw at least 2 osprey circling around the river and diving to catch fish. When they caught one, starlings and crows would chase the osprey. The osprey would circle higher and higher until it was a tiny dot in the sky, where I assume it would soar to its nest and feed its babies. I was surprised by how fast they were.
Bald eagle being chased by some crows on the cedar river trail
hummingbird i saw on the cedar river trail
adorable baby bunny on the cedar river trail, munching on foliage. let me get fairly close before hopping away. he was really small.
fuzzy caterpillar at the black river riparian forest
a better picture of the red-breasted sapsucker. early in the morning.
seen at my mom's work early in the morning (perhaps 9am) in a pine tree with his mate, gathering pine needles for their nest in a nearby big leaf maple. it's hard to see in the picture because it scared easily and was hard to photograph.
strange prickly cat-tail like plant that was growing at the top of a meadow-y hill in Renton. When I dropped it, seeds came out of the prickly top of it.
very jumpy and hard to photograph, makes a loud, sharp chirp
perhaps some sort of pine tree? It has needles growing in twos, and they were round and smooth/shiny on one side, and flat, dull and indented on the other side. It had pine cones. the needles were about 3.5-4 inches long and were pointed at the tips.
perhaps a lodgepole pine?
lots of these flowers growing around my mom's work. not sure what they are... they were growing pretty tall
maybe in the pea (fabaceae) family?
salmonberry plant with orange berries on it in Renton
at my mom's work (New Horizon School) in Renton
Adorable barn swallow on the roof of a building at my mom's work in Renton. He was standing guard by his nest, where another swallow was inside, presumably protecting eggs or babies. Whenever another bird came too close he'd fly around and cheep at it. Also included is a picture of the nest made of mud next to a light on the building. I could see the tail of another barn swallow sticking out from the inside.
Dead baby opossum at my mom's work in Renton. It has a slug on it for some reason.
