ebettis's Identifications

Date: 21 May 2020

Time: 0830-1230

Location: Rochester, WA 98579

Weather:
Temp: 60
Wind: 5 mph
Precipitation: Heavy at times, huddled under a fir tree for twenty minutes to sit out a down poor.
Cloud Cover: 95%

Group Size: Two, 8-month-old Yellow lab and I.

About the area:
The wildlife area is located in the Puget Sound Trough lowlands with the Cascade Mountain Range to the east, the Willapa Hills to the southwest, and the Black Hills to the northwest. It lies on a glacial outwash plain, rimmed by low-lying hills formed by the last continental ice sheet 12,000 years ago. Scatter Creek Wildlife Area is managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). It is over 1,060 acres in size and roughly 200 feet above sea level, with a mild climate typified by warm, dry summers and cool but generally snow-free winters. Cloudy or rainy days outnumber sunny ones during spring and fall.
Scatter Creek is a clear, cobble-bottomed salmon-bearing stream. The grasslands are native glacial outwash prairie. They are dominated by Roemer's fescue, and include a variety of forbs including camas, spring gold, lupine, strawberry, chocolate lily, and blue violets. In recent years, managers have battled infestations of non-native Scot's broom and, most recently, tall oat grass.

Habitat: Prairie ringed by oak forest and surrounded by mixed forested hills.

Observation Point

Location:
Scatter Creek Wildlife Area
GPS:

46°50'33.8"N 122°59'55.0"W
46.842719, -122.998618
Habitat: Prairie

Notes: This Common Yellow Throat was chasing insects through the prairie bushes when the sun briefly appeared following a heavy rain.

SIZE: Sparrow
COLORS: Yellow, tan, black and white
ACTIVITY: Foraging in the prairie bushes.

Species Identified
COMMON NAME: Common Yellowthroat
LATIN NAME: Geothlypis trichas
GENUS: Geothlypis
FAMILY: Parulidae
ORDER: Passeriformes
CLASS: Aves
PHYLUM: Chordata

Date: 5 May 2020

Time: 1600

Location: Tumwater, WA.

Weather:
Temp: 65
Wind: 5 MPH
Precipitation: light sprinkle
Cloud Cover: 50%

Group Size: Two

About the area: This is a historical urban area that has a wide variety of native trees and shrubs along the estuary made by the Deschutes River flowing into tidal Capitol Lake.

Habitat: Saltwater estuary.

Observation Point

Location:
Marathon Park
1011 Deschutes Pkwy SW,
Olympia, WA 98501
GPS:

47°02'11.6"N 122°54'44.0"W
47.036567, -122.912234
Habitat: River / Saltwater estuary.

Notes:
This Western Tanager was foraging through the tree tops.
SIZE: Between Sparrow and Robin
COLORS: Orange, Yellow and Black.
ACTIVITY: Foraging through the tree tops.

Species Identified:
COMMON NAME: Western Tanager
LATIN NAME: Piranga ludoviciana
GENUS: Piranga
FAMILY: Cardinalidae
ORDER: Passeriformes
CLASS: Aves
PHYLUM: Chordata

Date: 1 May 2020
Time: 1830
Location: Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM), WA.

Weather
Temp: 60
Wind: 5 MPH
Precipitation: 0”
Cloud Cover: 80%

Group Size: Two

About the area: This military base with some of the last remaining native grass prairie remaining in the northwestern United States.

Habitat: Mix of prairie and oak hard wood forest with creek and marsh.

Observation Point
Location: Training Area 12 JBLM
GPS:
47°01'29.8"N 122°31'30.2"W
47.024955, -122.525059

Notes:
This Yellow-rumped Warbler was forging in the tree tops near Chambers Lake.
SIZE: Sparrow
COLORS: Black, White and Yellow
ACTIVITY: Foraging for food.

Species Identified:
COMMON NAME: Yellow-rumped Warbler
LATIN NAME: Setophaga coronata
GENUS: Setophaga
FAMILY: Parulidae
ORDER: Passeriformes
CLASS: Aves
PHYLUM: Chordata

Date: 25 Apr 2020

Time: 1800

Location: Yelm, WA.

Weather:
Temp: 60
Wind: 5 MPH
Precipitation: 0”
Cloud Cover: 0%

Group Size: Individual

About the area: This is a rural agricultural neighborhood made up of three to twenty acre lots.

Habitat: Mix of open fields, dense shrubs, and mixed deciduous and coniferous forests.

Observation Point

Location: 148th Ave Yelm, WA. 98597
GPS: 46°52'22.3"N 122°36'16.7"W
46.872861, -122.604644
Habitat:
Open area is surrounded by forests. The forest is Primarily second growth Douglas fir but mixed with Alder, Ash, and Cotton Wood trees.

Notes:
This Chipping Sparrow was along the fence line feeding with a buddy.
SIZE: Sparrow
COLORS: Brown, white, and chestnut
ACTIVITY: Foraging on the ground.

Species Identified:
COMMON NAME: Chipping Sparrow
LATIN NAME: Spizella passerina
GENUS: Spizella passerina
FAMILY: Passerellidae
ORDER: Passeriformes
CLASS: Aves
PHYLUM: Chordata

Date: 26 Apr 2020

Time: 1320

Location: Yelm, WA.

Weather:
Temp: 73
Wind: 5 MPH
Precipitation: None at time of observation.
Cloud Cover: 80%

Group Size: Individual

About the area: This is a rural agricultural neighborhood made up of three to twenty acre lots.

Habitat: Mix of open fields, dense shrubs, and mixed deciduous and coniferous forests.

Observation Point

Location: 15904 148th AVE SE Yelm, WA. 98597
GPS: 46°52'22.6"N 122°36'17.7"W
Lat 46.872937, Long -122.604914
Habitat:
Open area is surrounded by forests. The forest is Primarily second growth Douglas fir but mixed with Alder, Ash, and Cotton Wood trees.

Notes:
These American Goldfinches were on and under the feeders enjoying black oil sunflower seeds as I ate lunch.
SIZE: Sparrow
COLORS: Yellow and Black.
ACTIVITY: On the feeder

Species Identified:
COMMON NAME: American Goldfinch
LATIN NAME: Spinus trstis
GENUS: Spinus
FAMILY: Fringillidae
ORDER: Passeriformes
CLASS: Aves
PHYLUM: Chordata

Habitat: sunny pond area in apartment complex backyard. Pond has a slow pump-induced flow, and several winterberry bushes and cattails line the edges. Overstory trees are Alnus rubra and Rhododendron macrophyllum.

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Paridae
Genus:Poecile
Species:atricapillus

Ive seen these birds multiple times around but they are almost always too quick to get a photo of. Theyre a very prominent bird in the PNW, often traveling in a pair of two males, or two females with one male.
A spotted towhee has a distinctly sharp upwards tail that flicks when it calls, with a prominent black head and body with a bright orange / reddish brown chest and belly like this bird sports.

Date: 17 Apr 2020

Time: 1830

Location: Yelm, WA.

Weather:
Temp: 65
Wind: 0 MPH
Precipitation: 0”
Cloud Cover: 0%

Group Size: Two

About the area: This is a rural agricultural neighborhood made up of three to twenty acre lots.

Habitat: Mix of open fields, dense shrubs, and mixed deciduous and coniferous forests.

Observation Point

Location: 133th Ave Yelm, WA. 98597
GPS: 46°53'38.6"N 122°37'28.4"W
46.894055, -122.624560

Habitat:
Open area is surrounded by forests. The forest is Primarily second growth Douglas fir but mixed with Alder, Ash, and Cotton Wood trees.

Notes:
This Barn Swallow was taking a break from chasing insects to preen.
SIZE: Smaller than a Sparrow
COLORS: Brown, White black and Chestnut.
ACTIVITY: Sitting on a wire

Species Identified:
COMMON NAME: Barn Swallow
LATIN NAME: Hirundo rustica
GENUS: Hirundo
FAMILY: Hirundinidae
ORDER: Passeriformes
CLASS: Aves
PHYLUM: Chordata