Sun Day

It could not possibly be more lovely a day.  I needed a picture for my monthly photo scavenger hunt so went over to Montlake Fill. 

The Fill is an old city garbage dump on the shores of Lake Washington, just east of Husky Stadium.  I can remember coming here as a child and wondering where J.P. Patches house was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._P._Patches

Now the dump is filled and capped.  The University Center for Urban Horticulture is here.  The land has been allowed to return to a semi-wild state.  Students use areas for their studies. 

The fill has always been a Mecca for bird watching.  In the 80s staff members of the UW who were dedicated bird watchers recorded and reported the day bird life of the Fill.  It was a reliable magnet for rare sightings.  Many of us learned all about spotting and watching birds.  It is where I learned our native swallows.

Now the grasses grow high and the ponds are secluded.  I easily lose my way as paths dip twist and turn.  Before it was wide and open, now trees have matured and you lose some of your bearings.

So I got my needed photo ( subject "dog house" )  A toughie.  I live in an apartment,  Who uses Dog Houses any more.  But in an AH HA! moment,  The University of Washington Husky Stadium  aka "The Dawg House"

That sorted I decided just to ramble and see what I could find enjoying the sun.

Purple Salsify ~ Common Salsify.  Tragopogon porrifolius

Savannah Sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis.  The field are filled with these grassland nesters.

Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias  enjoys a bask at the Carp Pond

Painted Turtles love the logs along Union Bay

Over in the horticulture Center Demo Garden

Bees do what bees do.

This one is having a face off.

Cedar Waxwing , Bombycilla cedrorum.  The most beautiful and seamless bird possible.  Never a wrinkle or crease on these birds

A scolding Wilson's Warbler, Wilsonia pusilla, told me I was not welcome in his little territory

Frozen Pond

I had to zip into work today.  With overnight temperatures well into the 20s I felt safest waiting for daylight.

The way was filled with rhyme covered grasses and trees.  Everything is frosted with a coat of white.  Thankfully, the main roads were safe driving.

One the way out of the business park I stopped at the little mitigation area.  This complex of meadow and pond has taken charge of controlling the runoff of the large business parks and easing it into the two large creeks that meet here.  Our roads no longer flood in the Winter and Spring when the rains are heavy. 

The once dirt trail is now paved and there are nice berms and a split rail fence to greet you.

Everything is frosted with crystals.

Birds are swarming the ground and blackberry bushes eating old dried fruit.  I noticed rowdy flocks of Robins up by the buildings where Cotoneaster is filled with berries.  The Robins were probably a little tipsy with fermented fruit.  This female Spotted Towhee was much more subdued with her dried blackberry.

As I walked along the path a River Otter came out of the pond, crossed the trail and went into a little runoff channel that meets the larger creek.  I waited and tried to capture a picture, but was not successful.  This shot of the frosty grasses hides a lump of otter, way out of focus.  That is its head at about 10:00 from center.

Ducks were clustered in one corner of the pond near open water.  There were some comical belly sliding icy landings and one duck even slipped, waddled then crashed through thin icy.

A lone Blue Heron found refuge in the tree.  I am sure the sunshine felt good up there.

The pond has obviously frozen and refrozen at different water levels over the last few days. Icy is jumbled in layers and pieces here and there.

 

 

 

It was just a little walk in the brisk sunny day.

 

 

The week ahead is forecast for sunny cold days.  A welcome relief from the persistent gray days.

Caching Up

What a strange few months it has been.  Work has been terribly stressful and with unrelenting dreary weather my spirits really took a dive.

I visited the ocean several times and really tried to enjoy and relax.  I gave in to the persistent memory of the nice dragon (long tail) kite I had seen on a previous visit to Gasworks Kites, and here it is in flight.

Notice the blue sky.  How that does revive me.  Here is the sunset from that day.

The last few weekends I have visited some old favorite places.  If it is Spring it must be time for Washington Park.  The wildflowers are just getting started and right off the bat I would say this looks like it might be a banner year for Calypso Orchids.

Even though the wild flowers seem right on time, the tulip and daffodil fields of the Skagit Flats seem a little behind.  Every year it seems like the farmers must risk their fields to far too much rain or late freezing temps.  The cold weather seems to have persisted quite a while this year.  But I captured a nice daffodil field in the early morning drive to Anacortes.

I have combined my Geocaching with my rambles and visiting familiar places is a good way to learn.  Along the way it is the little things I enjoy seeing.


Glacier scars on the bald top of Goose Rock on Whidbey Island.

a Great Blue Heron catching a little tidbit.

One of my favorite views at Washington Park.

Last weekend I was able to get away for two whole days so I headed for Catherine Creek.  We have visited there before and this year I was determined to hike all over. 

It is a little early for flowers but there were some nice finds.  As usual, the Shooting Stars and Camas are abundant.

Chocolate Lily blend in to the grasses and dead leaves under the White Oak trees, but when you get up close, their colores really captivate you.

I spent 5 hours hiking all over.   The West wind was so strong that it made the Columbia River look like it was flowing in reverse.  I did not see any windsurfers out and wonder if even they felt it was too strong.  Hiking along the west facing rim of one of the canyons I had several Auntie Em moments, feeling like Dorothy about to be swept away. 

This is wild country that shows the marks left by the Bretz Floods of 10000 years ago.  Gorges, bowls and carved out rock faces.  The Catherine Creek Arch has been documented as being a place of spirit quests for the native peoples.

This area below the hill was carved out by the violent forces of the flooding at the end of the last ice age.  Mt Hood was the most dazzling I have ever seen.  The winds were easily 35 mph+ at this point.  I got pushed about by the vortex produced by this bowl.

I finished my hike with a descent down through some woods I had never visited before.  I am wondering what wonders might grow up inside the sheltered area of conifers and yet again, it calls for another visit next month.

I was so pleased to have a good solid six hours of hiking and discovering.  I spent the night in The Dalles and left for Yakima early Easter Morning to  explore a new place.

Long Walk on a Long Pier

I grabbed the advantage of a rain free day to visit the new pier at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, near Olympia. The walkway has been open only a few weeks and based on the number of cars in the parking lot, many had the same idea.

This NWR is at the mouth of the Nisqually River, which my blog followers will know from my many volunteer work parties with the Land Trust. The NWR is actually bound by two flowing waters, the Nisqually on the east and McAllister Creek on the west. On its north face, the foot of Puget Sound.

Ten years ago, February 28, 2001, a 32 mile deep, 6.8 earthquake had its epicenter right across from the mouth of these rivers. Damage to the ring dike, created long ago to drain the intertidal marsh for farm land, allowed salt water to return to the former intertidal marsh. The rest of the dikes were breached on all sides, up to the Twin Barns. This was the beginning of returning the artificial fresh water ponds to the true intertidal estuary so vital to the ecology of the rivers. It is here that young salmon make their transition to salt water life and adults transition to the upriver spawning habitat. Unique life forms will inhabit these areas creating better food ecology for the plants and animals.

Now a boardwalk pier takes you out over the intertidal area allowing you to get close to the different habitats like never before. It is 2.8 miles from parking lot to the end of the pier. Today the tide was well out when I arrived. The wind was pretty brisk, something I was not fully prepared for. Everyone seemed in a happy mood, finding rain free skies and plenty of new things to see.

This is a bird watching Mecca and almost everyone had binoculars or cameras, or both. It is always easy to find something interesting, just watch for this sign.

The object of their interest was a young great Blue Heron. The bird was "hunting and striking" and appeared to be only getting grass reeds.

Birds are pairing up and there are many courtship and territory displays to watch.

This Robin has partial albinism. Many patches of white make him easily identifiable. His condition might be the result of illness or genetics. It will be interesting so see, if he nests, if there with be more splotched birds here.

The pier is beautiful with many places to stop undercover and scope. Soon there will be benches to encourage folks to sit and observe and to give rest to the weary. The whole complex is wheelchair or scooter friendly. There is a photography and viewing blind ideally situated to allow views up McAllister Creek. Bald Eagles nest along this creek and today it was possible to see both adults flying along the ridge and to their nest.

There are several outflows to McAllister Creek where the water that gets impounded from high tide is cutting drainage tracks. I noted today that many ducks and and gulls were attracted to this area where the water was rushing. The Bufflehead ducks were diving and feeding very vigorously.

Looking back, Twin Barns really let you know how far out you were.

Over time this intertidal area should develop a new plant system. Today you could see holes in the mud that represent clam or worm burrows. Mud is everywhere and the smell is that particular scent of saltwater beach at low tide. I love it!

The clouds rolled in as I walked and I was so pleased that I was able to get a few shots of the Olympics before they lost their sparkle.

This Great Blue Heron is in beautiful breeding plumage. The long wispy filoplumes shows you which way the wind was blowing.

Gold Crown Sparrows and Song Sparrows were actively feeding in the edges. These edges were filled with vegetation and reeds. They must have been filled with bugs and seeds.

Returning to the parking lot the trail takes you through a river forest. It is in these trees and shrubs I developed many of my early bird watching skills. It is here I saw my first Yellow Warbler and learned the spring song of Gold-crowned Kinglet. Today a Song Sparrow gave me a great photo-op. It was finding many tasty things in the moss and lichen.

I was thrilled to see Tree Swallows have returned. This complex will host all of our regional swallows by the end of Spring.

Finally, here is my new traveling companion, Pearly Mae. She is nimble and raring to go.

Blue Day

Saturday morning I awoke very late to the roar of a wind storm. I knew that winds were due but they usually stay further east in the foothills. It sounded like a small jet passing back and forth outside.

I had decided to pay a visit to Olympia this day. My journey would be a two-fer. Visit Nisqually NWR if the weather was remotely humane and then stop at the excellent Olympia Farmers Market.

Knowing full well that weather here is never the same across the state, let alone across the street, I set off for Olympia, about 60 miles south. I was happy to see all sorts of cloud formations overhead, none of which said "rain " to me.

I arrived at Nisqually to a mixed sky. This refuge at the foot of Puget Sound is the delta of the Nisqually River. I have told you a lot about the lands upriver of this place, but I do not pay enough visits to the NWR. I wrote about my last visit in February 2010. Over the last several years this refuge has undergone a change. It has been long desired to return the delta to its natural state. The land had been diked off and made into farm land in the late 1800's. The Nisqually earthquake of 2001 collapsed one of the dikes and in 2008 the rest of the job was done. This precious land is rapidly returning to the salt water tidal marsh that nature intended.

When I lived further south than I do now, this refuge was one of the places I honed my birdwatching skills. Back then the loop trail was well over 6 miles. Now the hike out and back is only about 3 miles.

In winter it is a bleak and quiet place. The woodlands are leaf free and the migrant bird population long gone. The boardwalk in the riparian woods was slippery with greenstuf and there were little pebbles and sand everywhere. Clearly the recent rains and runoff had flooded the area. I had a sneaky quiet encounter of my first Great Blue Heron of the day. It made a pretty picture for me.

The original Brown Dike Ring Trail ends abruptly where it has been breached right at the edge of the Nisqually river. From here you can look down river. Today there was a Sea Lion noisily searching for salmon. It would come up for air and POOOFTH its breath out and quickly dive. If you missed seeing its head, you could have convinced yourself you were in the presence of a tiny whale. I never saw the Sea Lion eating a fish, so pickings might have been slim. A little Harbor Seal also politely worked the area seeking any swimming thing it could find.

Along with plenty of Great Blue Herons there are Bald Eagles galore. Full adults are easy to spot with their bold white heads and tails. Here there were many young birds at varied stages of plumage maturation. It was exciting to spot a bird that was just coming into its Four year, adult feathers. It was still a little blotchy. Most likely this year it will not nest but next year it will start Winter by courting and fighting for a nesting territory. Here at Nisqually there are several nesting eagles along the river valley

I spotted a heron frozen in the grass along the path ahead of me. I waited and was rewarded with seeing the bird capture a small rodent in the grass. The hapless critter was struggling as the heron walked to the waters edge and gave it a quick swish in the water and down the hatch it went

still wriggling.

Seems pretty risky to me and I have heard of birds being killed by a well placed bite or scratch in the crop. Here the bird is, post swallow with a rather bunchy neck.

It was wonderful simply being out. Even though there were a few sprinkles they were quickly followed by a wonderful sky of broken clouds. Sunlight came and went making photography and binocular work a challenge.

The Cross Dike trail is a great vantage point to seeing the duck ponds. Eagles like to fly over the ponds hoping to pinpoint a sick or injured bird. Sometimes you might spot a mink or river otter. Eagles and gulls fought over a dead fish. I noticed in the distance a structure I had not seen the last time I was here. A viewing platform and leading from it a long meandering boardwalk all the way out to the mouth of the river.

I read last night that this is a new feature. We will now have the ability to walk out into the tidal marsh and see it during high and low tide. What an exciting prospect. It holds great potential for wonderful views of the Sound and possibly Mt Rainier.

You can see a video about the project here.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/flatpages/video/mediacenterbc3.html?bctid=715284330001

This was the sky as I was leaving the NWR. There had been every flavor of sky this morning, none of it particularly rainy and even better out here on the flats, it was not windy. Around here, in Winter, such an event deserves a photographic record.

In time for lunch I paid a visit to the Olympia Farmers Market. This is the second largest Farmers Market in the state and they have a wonderful covered building for their main market.

A lot of local food producers including several vendors providing organic beef, pork and poultry. Cheeses, spices and herbs, vegetables and wonderful , wonderful apples. Many of the apples are types you are not going to see at your local store. I bought Mutsu apples to make a cake for work.

I really wanted to buy the oysters, bu know I have zero skill in getting them open. The Olympia Oyster has become so rare. They are no bigger than a 50 cent piece.

Several secondary buildings house vendors who provide yummy food for lunch. I could not resist a Polish sausage with onions and sauerkraut. It was just the thing since the weather had taken a sharp turn and you could feel the temperature falling just waiting in line. I used it as a hand warmer while I scurried back to the car before the long drive home.