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Friday, April 12

 

Today I once again went over to the Snoqualmie Valley to look for American Dipper and other birds.  This was my fifth trip over there this year, and I had only seen a dipper once.

 

I stopped at the Redmond Watershed Preserve and got Bufflehead and Hooded Merganser on the pond there.  Here is a male Bufflehead.

 

It's difficult to get a good picture of a male Bufflehead because of the sharp contrast between the white and the black.  Here is a female Bufflehead.

 

I walked out on my usual path and called up my cute little Pacific Wren friend that I've seen there the last three times.

 

I picked up American Wigeon and Common Merganser as I drove down the west side of the valley.  Ducks are getting harder to see, as they are starting to migrate north and inland for the breeding season.  Going across the valley, I saw a couple of Belted Kingfishers and got this picture of a White-crowned Sparrow.

 

Approaching Sikes Lake, a female Northern Harrier flew across the road, and I picked up American Coot and Double-crested Cormorant at Sikes Lake.  In the field across from Carnation Farms, there was a small herd of elk.

 

There were very few ducks on the pond at Chinook Bend, but I did get Gadwall there.  There were a couple of Ospreys on the nest platform at the river, but my pictures aren't worth showing.  The spring birds are returning.

 

There was nothing at all at the original Carnation house with feeders, but at the "new" feeder house, I added American Goldfinch, Rufous Hummingbird, and Brown-headed Cowbird, among other birds.  Here is a male House Finch.

 

Here's a cute little male Dark-eyed Junco.

 

A couple of Eurasian Collared-Doves showed up and here is one of them.

 

Another sign of spring was a number of male Brown-headed Cowbirds at the feeders.

 

I picked up my usual sandwich (ham and salami, with pepper jack cheese) at the Carnation Market deli, and then stopped at the bridge over the Tolt River, just south of Carnation.  No dippers there, though.  So, I drove down the west side of the Snoqualmie River, heading toward Fall City.  I picked up Ring-necked Duck at the Blue Heron Golf Course, and then saw some Northern Shovelers on the pond at Jubilee Farms.  At the pond on the east side of the road, south of Jubilee Farms, I got this picture of a Pied-billed Grebe.

 

A little south of that, there was a male American Kestrel on a wire, and I got this picture of him.

 

Soon after that, I stopped and ate my delicious sandwich in the car, while listening and watching for birds.  In Fall City, I drove along the Raging River, looking for dippers, but again came up empty.  I drove up to Tokul Creek and looked again for American Dipper, but it was strike three, and I was out.

 

I didn't get anything along Neal Road, on the northern edge of Fall City, and then I stopped one more time to look for a dipper, at the Tolt River bridge again.  Strike four.  Back at the new feeder house, I got some more pictures.  Here is a male American Goldfinch.

 

Here's a male American Goldfinch and a Pine Siskin.

 

Here are two more shots of Pine Siskins.

 

 

There were House Sparrows there, too, and here's a female House Sparrow.

 

I had seen a male Rufous Hummingbird there earlier, but I hadn't gotten a picture.  This time around I got this picture of a male Anna's Hummingbird sipping some nectar at a feeder.

 

As I headed for home, there were more ducks on the Chinook Bend pond, and I added Wood Duck and Green-winged Teal to my list for the day.  I ended up with 39 species in my five and a half hours of birding, including driving time.  That is the second highest of the five trips I've made out to the valley this year.  One of the nice things about taking the same route so many times is that I can see how things change with the seasons - the foliage and the birds both.  I didn't get my dipper, but it was a lovely day out there, and I had a good time.

 

After I got home I saw one more species, and I got this picture of a Golden-crowned Sparrow at our lotus tub.

 

That's it for me today.

 

 

Friday, April 26, 2024

 

I ventured out birding again today, again going out to the Snoqualmie Valley in search of an American Dipper and other birds.  The summer birds have started to come back, and I was curious to see what I could find.  I stopped at the Redmond Retention Ponds, hoping to maybe see some shorebirds, but there isn't any mud around the edges and there were no shorebirds, only a few ducks.  My next stop was the Redmond Watershed Preserve.  I only saw a single Canada Goose on the pond as I entered, so I parked and went out on one of the trails, looking for the Pacific Wren I have seen there several times this year.  Once again, I was able to call it up with my phone, and here's a picture of it singing back to me.

 

On the way out, there was a pair of Hooded Mergansers on the pond, so I took their pictures.  Here is the male Hooded Merganser.

 

Here's the pair of Hooded Mergansers.

 

Out in the valley, I saw a Belted Kingfisher as I started across NE 100th St. and added Red-tailed Hawk, White-crowned Sparrow and Golden-crowned Sparrow along that stretch as well.  At the river crossing, there was an Osprey on the nest platform, and I saw a pair of Common Mergansers in the river.  Here is the male Common Merganser.

 

Here is the female Common Merganser.

 

There was also a Killdeer on the far shore of the river.

 

In Carnation, there were some Band-tailed Pigeons in a tall tree at the original feeder house.  Here is one of them.

 

I talked with Sven a couple of minutes and moved on to the "new" feeder house.  Here are three Brown-headed Cowbirds; the female is the light colored one in the middle and two with brown heads are males.

 

Here's a male American Goldfinch.

 

I have several pictures of birds in that tree with the red flowers, but I don’t know what kind of tree it is.  Does anyone else know?

 

Here is a Eurasian Collared-Dove.

 

Here's a Steller's Jay stuffing its mouth and throat with peanuts.

 

Here's a White-crowned Sparrow in the red flower tree.

 

A single Mourning Dove showed up.

 

A single Pine Siskin showed up briefly, as well.

 

Next I stopped at the Carnation Market and picked up a sandwich.  After that, I stopped at the Tolt River bridge, south of Carnation, to look for a dipper, but the water was high from the rain we got yesterday, and no dippers were showing.  I drove down the west side of the Snoqualmie River.  I didn't get anything at the Blue Heron Golf Course, but I picked up Great Blue Heron in the flooded field at Jubilee Farms.  At the pond south of there, there were some Ring-necked Ducks.  Here is a male Ring-necked Duck.

 

Here is a female Ring-necked Duck.

 

I also saw my first Yellow-rumped Warbler of the year there, but it didn't stick around for a picture.  There were also Violet-green Swallows swooping around, my first of that species for this year, too.  Moving on, there were four Turkey Vultures overhead, another first of the year for me.  I stopped and ate half my sandwich, and while doing so, I heard a Common Raven in the distance.

 

After that, I drove through Fall City and along the Raging River, looking for dippers.  No luck there, so I moved on to Tokul Creek, on Fish Hatchery Road.  I finally got lucky there and spotted my American Dipper.  I didn't see one at first, but then I played its very interesting song on my phone, and a couple of minutes later I saw one upstream a little.

 

As I watched it, I realized it was singing back to me.

 

It came closer and here's one more picture of my American Dipper.

 

I ate the other half of my sandwich, used the rest room at the park at the end of the road, and headed back toward home.  I drove up Neal Road, just north of Fall City, and on the oxbow lake near the end of the dead-end road, I added Wood Duck to my list.

 

Back in Carnation, at the new feeder house, I added a couple of little birds to my list, and got this picture of a White-crowned Sparrow.

 

All the birds flew of, and I figured a hawk must be around.  Sure enough, a Cooper's Hawk landed in the flower bed about ten feet from where I was sitting in my car.  Then it briefly landed in the open on the driveway, even closer, but flew off again before I could get a picture.

 

Along NE 60th St, I saw a pair of Brewer's Blackbirds, and here is the male.

 

At Game Haven Farm, there were swallows flying around and landing on a wire.  Here is a Northern Rough-winged Swallow, my first of the year.

 

Here are a couple of Violet-green Swallows.

 

There was also a single Cliff Swallow.  My picture is lousy, but it was another first for me this year.  On the way back to the main road, I got this picture of two Ospreys on the nest platform.

 

So, that was my birding adventure for today.  I was out there for six hours, including driving time to and from the valley.  I saw 46 species, which the most I have seen on that loop so far this year in a single day.  And I saw my dipper!  The summer birds are returning, and the winter ones are leaving.