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January 30, 2024

 

Wow, news flash.  I actually went out birding today, for the first time in seven or eight months.  Various issues, including medical issues, kept me out of the field for all that time, but today I ventured out again.  I went over to the Snoqualmie River Valley, around Carnation.  The weather was supposed to be dry, but it drizzled, sprinkled, and rained lightly most of the time.  I was out there for 5 1/2 hours, but I only got out of the car 6 or 7 times, and only for a short time each time.  As it turned out, the rain didn't really interfere much with the birding, other than a few raindrops coming in my open window as I took some of my pictures.

 

I got some common birds along the way out to the valley, and as I drove across the valley, there were two Bald Eagles near the top of a leafless tree.

 

In the same tree, there was a small hawk, and I think it was a Sharp-shinned Hawk

 

There are some conflicting things about it, and it could have been a small, male Cooper's Hawk, but it seemed too small for that, so I'm calling it a Sharp-shinned Hawk.  As I was taking those pictures, a Common Raven flew over, calling.  A little farther down the road I saw an American Kestrel, but it flew off before I could get a picture.

 

At Sikes Lake, I took this picture of a male Common Merganser.

 

There were also a couple of Pied-billed Grebes there, and I got this picture of one of them.

 

In the meadow across the road from Carnations Farms, there was a herd of over 100 elk.  I've seen elk in that valley before, but not often, and never this many.  Here's a picture of a few of the elk.

 

Here are a couple more pictures, taken from down the road and up the hill partway.

 

 

There was a seasonal pond in a field along NE 60th St, and I picked up a couple of more duck species there.  Here is a male Northern Shoveler.

 

I visited the two houses in Carnation that have bird feeders, but there wasn't much around.  I did get this picture of a Eurasian Collared-Dove in the light rain.

 

I picked up a sandwich at the Carnation Market (one of the highlights of a visit to Carnation for me - great sandwiches, and not expensive).  From there, I drove down the west side of the Snoqualmie River.  As I approached the river, there were some Trumpeter Swans and Cackling Geese in a field.  Here's a picture of some Cackling Geese, which are smaller versions of their cousins, Canada Geese.

 

At the pond at the Blue Heron golf course, I got this picture of a female Ring-necked Duck.

 

Here's a head on view of a male Ring-necked Duck.

 

At the pond south of Jubilee Farms, I finally added Great Blue Heron to my list.

 

There were a couple of pairs of Buffleheads on that pond, as well.  Here is a male Bufflehead.

 

Here’s his female counterpart.

 

Next I drove up to the Tokul Creek bridge, hoping to see American Dipper, my primary target of the day (other than the ham and salami sandwich I had picked up at the Carnation Market deli).  No dice.  There were a few fishermen, but no dippers.  Strike one.

 

I retired to my car and enjoyed my sandwich and some Pringles, and then went back out on the bridge and tried again for dipper.  Strike two.  So, I gave that up and headed for home.  On the way, I drove up and back Neal Road, a short dead-end road, but all I got there was a couple of American Robins and some Brewer's Blackbirds across the river in a tree.

 

I stopped at the bridge south of Carnation and again looked for American Dipper.  Strike three, and I was out.

 

Back in Carnation, I got this picture of a female Anna's Hummingbird at one of the houses with feeders.

 

I also added Mourning Dove to my list, and here is a picture.

 

As I drove back across the valley on NE 100th St, a male American Kestrel was on a wire, where I had seen one earlier.  I carefully got out of the car to try for a picture, but before I was ready, he swooped down to the ground.  Fortunately, he then went back up to the wire, nearby.  Here is a picture of the male American Kestrel with the grub he had spotted from the wire.

 

He swallowed the grub, and I took this picture of the wet male American Kestrel on the wire.

 

A little farther along NE 100th St, at the pond on the south side of the road, there were some ducks.  Most of them were American Wigeons, which I had seen earlier, but there was one male Eurasian Wigeon with them  Here is a shot of two male American Wigeons and the male Eurasian Wigeon (with the red head) on the right.

 

Here's a picture of the male Eurasian Wigeon with some American Wigeons.

 

On my way home, I stopped at the Redmond Watershed preserve and the Redmond Retention ponds, but saw nothing but a coule of Buffleheads.

 

So, that was my birding adventure today.  It was nice to get out there and see a little of the territory that I used to see a lot of.  I ended up with 34 different species today, which is mediocre, but the number isn't really important.  Last year on February 2, I made the same trip and only got 33, so at least I beat that total.

 

I don't know when I'll get out again.  One of the reasons I hadn't gone out for so long was that I injured the rotator cuff in my right shoulder last year.  I think the injury was due to all the repetitive raising my binoculars and camera to my eyes, and it was quite painful to use my binoculars and camera..  It has improved a lot, but today stressed the rotator cuff and I could really feel it in my shoulder.  It feels fairly okay tonight, but I'll be interested to see how it feels tomorrow.

 

Today I was birding again, though, even if it was just car birding for the most part.