Washington State

We headed west in late April to visit family; Holly's sister and my brother and the respective (and respected) "out-laws" both live less than 30 minutes from each other in beautiful state of Washington.  Holly had assisted with a medical emergency on the flight for our recent Costa Rica trip so we received a discount voucher to fly again with Delta.  Combining that with an amazing ticket sale, we eagerly snapped up the tickets and arranged the visit.  Our youngest is under two and could fly free, so we took her along too.

The morning after arriving, everyone else had plans so I took the morning to morning to walk up into a hill behind where we were staying.  Along the way, a marshy area was full of Red-winged Blackbirds wooing mates.

female Red-winged Blackbird

male Red-winged Blackbird

As I walked towards the base of the hill, there were a few black birds in the newly leafed trees.  I almost overlooked them assuming by their size and squeaky call that they were just starlings, but good thing I checked closer. With bright yellow eyes and a slight blue and green iridescence, they were a new find and became life bird #195: Brewer's Blackbirds.

Brewer's Blackbird

As I climbed the steep road (I'm sure the grade was about 12 percent or more) a Red-tailed hawk broke the silence with it's falling, piercing call.  It circled all around the area and I got quite a few shots.  Unfortunately, I had mistakenly kept the shutter speed too low and I forgot to check.  I only got a couple salvageable shots.

soaring Red-tailed Hawk

It later perched in a dead snag and watched me for a short while.  The cliff between us was too steep and I couldn't find out how much closer it would have allowed me.

Red-tailed Hawk

Soon, a much larger form glided in from the distance and guaranteed that I'd see at least one example of the States' national bird - an adult Bald Eagle.  This was soon after my hawk shots and I still hadn't adjusted my camera settings, so I settle for a rather unclear picture of the majestic bird!

Bald Eagle

Near the top of the hill there are a number of beautiful homes and an Anna's Humming bird was zipping around between feeders and flowering bushes.  It was way up on a cliff with really bad lighting, but the cropped picture is clear enough to show it's bright purple throat. Another lifer.

Anna's Hummingbird

I wandered around on the uninhabited side of the hill a bit, not seeing much in the uncharacteristically warm 27 deg C (80 deg F) high temp of the day.  I sure was enjoying the warm weather, knowing that back home it was a cold, raining week.  Here was the view from the hillside.... great!

A typical Washington view.

At the top of the hill, I varied from the recommended route my sister-in-law had given me and found an old dirt lane which seemed to head in the general direction of "home".  It wasn't labelled with any signs of any sort so I thought with large camera lens in hand, I could plead the innocence of being a bird nerd if anyone complained about trespassing. The mix of large mature deciduous and coniferous trees shaded and soon I was hearing lots of bird songs I didn't recognize.  Unfortunately I saw none of them close enough to find out what they were.  Further down the lane, a number of trees were full of Yellow-rumped Warblers.  They were very busy feeding on also bugs enjoying the warm weather. Unfortunately, the thick trees meant low light and I couldn't get any good pictures. Even if the birds would perch in a sunlit spot, it would only be for a few seconds, too short to get a picture.

As I made my way down the trail, a vehicle came down the lane and stopped, asking for my reason of being down where I was.  The camera proved its worth and seemed to set the two slightly rough looking guys at rest.  Actually, the one guy seemed to take an interest, and offered that he knew of a large nest down in the bush, wondering if I'd like to see it.  I took him up on the offer and followed them around the bend to where a large, rambling but quite neglected house sat on the hillside completely isolated from everything else.  I was told it was about eight apartments, likely housing some less than wealthy folks who called it home.  After waiting for my guide to return from the house, he returned with a large machete in hand, casually noting to me that he could understand that I might find it a bit unnerving to have someone, in the middle of "nowhere", offer to take me for a walk into the bush while wielding a machete.  But I wasn't too worry, he assured me.  And I didn't.

The machete was to cut back the blackberry bushes which smother the hillside.  It wasn't really needed though as I followed him along a trail he obviously had traveled lately a number of times.  He mentioned that that morning they had been setting up a trail cam in an area on the opposite side of the hill where they had found what they think was Bob Cat scat.  That would be amazing to see in the wild!

Sure enough, soon we approached the edge of cliff which was part of an already steep section of the hillside and the objecting cries of two Red-tailed Hawks let us know we were not welcome.  In a tree reaching from below the cliff's edge was a large nest.  Inside I could see at least one egg, and what I believe were two fluffy white chicks.

Red-tailed Hawk nest with chicks and egg.

We sat in the midst of the brambles and hoped to hide ourselves enough with the hopes that the adults would return to the nest, but we were only fooling ourselves given their amazing eye sight.  We enjoyed the sight for a few minutes, and then left them in peace.  I'd have loved to stay longer, but the parents were obviously agitated (though we weren't terribly close) and it made me wish I had an instant pop up blind in my pocket to use.  Such an amazing viewing angle, and a blind would have been so easy to set up there to allow the adults to return un-alarmed.  But I was glad to enjoy the experience!

I thanked my willing friend and continued down the hill, only to be startled by an equally startled mule deer that had been resting in the underbrush right side the lane.  However, it didn't take off far, and let me approach quite closely.

Mule Deer

Once I got too close, it moved just into the brush and then stared at me from there.  Either it felt safer behind the leaves or had some illusion that I couldn't see it anymore, but I was able to get close enough to get the next picture zoomed all the way back (granted, still at 150mm).

Mule Deer - close.

Soon we both tired of the stare down and we both calmly went separate ways.  That was one of my more enjoyable hikes I had.

But I had run out of time as we were supposed to be heading out for a outing with the family.  We went to a great lookout where you could see great views of Mount Baker and it was even clear enough to see Mount Rainier in the distance.

Mount Baker

Mount Rainier way in the distance (blue through the afternoon haze)

My beautiful travel-mate!

Bald Eagle

The following days were filled with lots of family visiting and touristy outings - great times!  Thanks a lot to both our brother and sister's families for all the things they did with and for us!

One outing was to Deception Pass where we walked along shore of the very calm Pacific Ocean.  One of the first sights was of Surf Scoters, albeit at a distance from water's edge. Another bird to add to the list with a not so great picture but still good enough for evidence.

Surf Scoters

As we walked along the stoney beach, a group of younger Thayer's Gulls were preening on a rocky outcrop. Yet another new bird.

Thayer's Gulls

Further along we passed some sandy cliffs and a humming bird was busy meandering through the dangling grasses, roots and leaves from the cliff edge.  I'm not sure what it was doing or looking for there.  I'm pretty sure it was a female Rufous Hummingbird.

female Rufous Hummingbird

There were lots of Pigeon Guillemots swimming in the fast waters approaching the two big Deception Pass bridges.  Again, none were venturing close for a great picture, but you can see clearly enough in the photo below its distinct bright red legs and white eye ring.  This bird is from the Puffin family and lives only in the Pacific Ocean.

Pigeon Guillemot

A little further along a female Harlequin Duck was diving and searching for food a lot closer to shore than the other birds.  I was able to sneak up between dives for a few pictures before it got uncomfortable with the closeness and moved on.

female Harlequin Duck

On the way back to the car, we were met by a White-crowned Sparrow perched on a piece of driftwood, singing its heart out.  It was quite tolerant of me and I could get some nice closeups.

White-crowned Sparrow

It was a great trip out to Washington. We had lots of visiting time with our brother and sister and their families, had a great get-together with all my cousins living in that area, and enjoyed the great hospitality of everyone out there.  My only regret is not being able to do an outing with my Uncle Gord who had planned to take me out exploring at a couple great sites.  He has a very bad back, and the night before had to cancel because his back had suddenly gone out again.  He had hoped to take me to a site where there are approximately 600 heron nests.  That would have been a sight to see.  Next visit hopefully I can fit that in.

The trip did have a rather sad moment.  We visited the Seattle zoo with my brother and sister-in-law and their cute daughter.  Holly was taking pictures of their raptor show and handed the camera to me for a turn, with an off hand comment that she wasn't sure, but it didn't seem to be taking pictures any more.... much to my chagrin I confirmed it was so.  The shutter was stuck.  It had done that a few months back, and at that time a careful but firm bump had reset it. Not to be repeated and we were sans-camera for the rest of the trip.  More to come on that in a future post... 

Well, I added eight life birds to my list that trip, letting me crack the 200 mark at 202.  But more fun was enjoying the visits with the family and seeing their stomping grounds. Who knows when the next visit that way will be, but next time hopefully it will be with all the kids along... I'm know my brother will be pleased with that thought!

Until next time...

Keep enjoying HIS handiwork!

Ruthven - Bird Banding for Kids

In between starting and finishing this post, my dear Grandmother died and went to her Heavenly Father.  I wanted to share a few thoughts, which are at the end of the post....

After quite a lack of any birding or photography in my life for the last while, things have picked up quite nicely.  This Wednesday I headed back to work after a nice vacation of just over a week filled with lots of Christmas and New Year's gatherings with family and friends.  That morning I was treated to see two coyotes chasing a rabbit through the snow across someone's lawn.  The next day, on my way to work, I had to turn around after noticing a small flock of 40 or 50 sparrow like birds which didn't look at all like sparrows.  Once I'd located them again, it turns out they were Snow Buntings (life bird #105).  I didn't have my camera, so I hope a trip into work will find them again in the same location, along Hwy 5 just west of Lynden Road, a driveway to a grain storage/mill where spillage from the trucks likely attracts them.

Saturday, I took my three boys to Ruthven where Peter Scholtens was hosting an event for kids which was sponsored by A Rocha Canada and Bird Studies Canada.  The kids were introduced to birding, bird banding and then were able to watch them take the birds out of the mist nets, band the birds, and then each child was able to take a turn to release a bird.

Andrew releases a Common Redpoll

Jordan releases an Common Redpoll

Head Bird Bander Rick sets Justin up with a bird.

Justin releases an American Tree Sparrow

Peter sets up a scope for the kids to look through.

The three amigos.

We all went for a hike out on a loop along the Grand River - it was a beautiful day for the outing with the wind having died down over night and the sun shining brightly.  It was a nice surprise to see friends from church (Dave and kids) there too.  A big thanks to Peter and Rick (and I'm afraid I don't know the name of the other lady bander) for putting this on for the kids (and big kids too!)

The group on a bird hike.

There were lots of Common Redpolls there, which was a new bird for me (life bird #106).  They were very comfortable with people near by, meaning I could sneak in some photography time while the boys played with friends on the grounds.

male Common Redpoll

male Common Redpoll

male Common Redpoll

female Common Redpoll

male American Goldfinch

Those weren't the only birds to be seen, but I disciplined myself to no birding pictures till the end (taking your telephoto lens off the camera will do the trick) and then a limited amount at that.  A Great Blue Heron lazily flew over, and a pair of Common Ravens were heard and then seen, followed by a Bald Eagle slowly coasting over the grounds.

Bald Eagle

Grandma...

I made some headway on starting this post yesterday afternoon, and then left to spend time with my grandmother during the night hours... I was taking my turn at her bedside along with the rest of my mom, brothers, sisters, cousins and uncles and aunts as she finished her earthly days.  Not long after I got there, she peacefully died and was freed from more than 12 years of Alzheimer's.  Although still sad, our family (her 10 children, 63 grandchildren, 129 great grandchildren, and one great great grandchild) is all thankful that she now, with a clear mind is thanking her Saviour face to face!  She was a godly woman and it was very touching to see that although she didn't know any of us at the end (so far as we know), she would still mouth the words to many of the hymns and Bible passages by memory as we would sing and read with her.  Those tucked away words never faded and were never confused.  This week will be a mixture of feelings as we gather as extended family to remember her life, contemplate the shortness of this life, and the be reminded of how we will all stand before our Maker one day.  I pray that all of you will be able to say one day, "It is well with my soul!" because you love Him as your personal Saviour.

Here is one of the many notes my Grandmother wrote while her mind was still somewhat clear in the earlier years of her Alzheimer's....

"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. "

Isaiah 40:31

Mixed Bag of Birds

Bald Eagle just about to slip out of view behind a sappling.

I've made a few different trips over the last few weeks.  As mentioned in my last post, I went back to the Brantford Bald Eagle nest to if there was any activity to capture.  In fact there was, but I mistakenly took my uncharged battery and missed some nice opportunities.  For a short while, a seagull decided to protest the larger predator, bombing the bird from above and putting forth a very noisy statement of its dislike for the eagle's presence in the airspace around the nest.

As I think I mentioned previously as well, there was regular movement of Buffleheads, Common Merganser, and Canada Geese along the river, giving great opportunity for flight pictures to those with a charged battery - not me.  I did get one half decent shot of a pair of Common Mergansers before my battery retired.

Pair of Common Mergansers over muddied waters of Grand River

On the way home from church with the boys last week, we saw White-tailed Deer in the distance of a farmer's field.  The waning light allowed only for 1600 ISO or higher pictures and slow shutter speeds.  Not conducive to trying to capture some frisky does who were obviously enjoying the early warmness of a spring evening.  As you can hopefully see in the picture below, they were jaunting up to each other and then springing lightly into the air.  Spring fever I think.

Frisky White-tailed Deer does.

On the way to a meeting the other night, I stopped briefly to watch a huge Red-tailed Hawk perched in the glow of the setting sun, nicely lit in the golden rays, but too far away for a good picture.  Driving on my way again, the familiar shape of a hawk came into view.  Strangely, its aggressive wing beaten path slowly began to merge with my road bound direction, matching my speed of about 80km/h.  But then, with a sudden burst of speed, it veered away, dropped in elevation, and then swooped up into a large maple at the side of the road and with amazing agility, manoeuvred through the branches into the centre of the tree top to capture a Red-winged Blackbird.  I quickly turned around and was able to capture the picture below just as it took off with a late evening meal to devour.  You can see the flash of red and yellow giving evidence to the species of supper.  It's a terribly blurry shot, but still had to share as proof of my story.

Cooper's Hawk with Red-winged Blackbird catch.

Below is a video showing the agility of a Goshawk which is known for the same ability as the Cooper's Hawk - flying through dense brush to surprise small prey including birds, squirrels, chipmunks, etc.  They have an amazing ability to fly through tight spaces, keeping on track and ultimately nabbing the target.  I often marvel at the amazing diversity of tactics wildlife use for catching, luring, and killing prey.  To me it speaks of a creative Designer, and not to the theory that these methods evolved out of the need for survival.  In my mind, the latter would produce a more uniform set of methods only produced out of practical needs and easily developed solutions.  I'd be glad to hear your thoughts if you think differently.

Later in the week, I made a brief stop at Mountsberg on my way back from a work meeting, spending my "lunch hour" to drive the back roads in the area.  On my short jaunt, I saw a Northern Shrike sitting atop of a hedgerow in a farmer's field not far from the road.  Just as I jumped out of my car, it flew off, even though I for once had my camera out and ready for such an event.  No picture.  A significant life bird for me though.

Driving around some more, I did get to see some more common birds, but not may pictures.

Mourning Dove just north of Mountsberg

I headed to Grass Lake last Sunday with my youngest son Justin, to see if we could find the Sandhill Cranes which are reported to be back for their annual summer stay on that lake.  Justin was proudly decked out with his own binoculars...Canadian Tire had a pair on sale for $8 - perfect for all three of my boys who at this point stick dirty fingers on the glass and drop them on the ground when something else interests them suddenly.  We didn't see the cranes, but I did hear and see in the distance an Eastern Meadowlark.  Dad, remember your "wordification" of their song "This-is-my-hydro-tower" from our years on Pinedale Drive?

I thought this blurry shot of a Canada Goose flying over us was kind of interesting.  Blurry, but something about it I like.

Canada Goose

The Red-winged Blackbirds were all noisily courting.  Strange how the duller coloured ones always seem to be the ones closest to the camera... some are definitely have brighter colouring.  This one's wings were tipped with a tinge of light brown.  Not sure if this a first year adult just loosing it's juvenile plumage?

Red-winged Blackbird

On the way home I just happened to notice this Yellow-shafted Norther Flicker.  I was able to get surprisingly close (Never close enough though!!!  Full frame shots are just a dream with a 300mm lens and this is significantly cropped still).  I'd love to capture these birds in flight - that's when the yellow underside of the wings bursts in a flash as they make their flitting, undulating flight typical of a woodpecker.

Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker

All in all, though none of the specific trips on their own felt like a spectacular success, I've seen some noteworthy birds and sites, and the weather is spectacular, if not strangely odd.  We'll see what the next weeks bring.  April snow storms have happened a few times over the last years!

Brantford Bald Eagles

On a dreary, windy, and rather cool day last Sunday, I took my two oldest boys Andrew and Jordan to see if we could find the Bald Eagles which had been reported to be actively tending a nest on the Grand River in Brantford near Brant Park.  We headed down to two known nest sites with very good information from Bill Lamond from the BrantBirds group.  We found the first nest without too much trouble, but didn't see any evidence of it being occupied.

Bald Eagle nest - the original one

From this nest which is a little southwest of Wilkes Dam, we traveled downriver towards the second nest site to see if there was any activity.  As we walked along the bank, we passed an old Indian dam, the remnants of which are only evident at this time of year by a relatively straight line of agitated water as it tumbles over the rocks placed there years ago to raise the water level.  I've tried to find out online why the Indians built a dam here, but couldn't find anything about it.

We met a gentleman on the path who lives just south of the area, and he pointed us to an eagles a bit down river of us where he had just waked from.  He also pointed out to us the site of the second, newer nest which I understand was built over the winter this year.  He said the newer nest is built in a huge old Sycamore tree, lower down, and much more stable.  It's larger than the old one too, though not very visible from where we were standing.  No one seems to be sure why, but the eagle pair has decided go back to the old nest which they attempted unsuccessfully last year to raise young in.  The old nest is higher up in a more slender tree, and it was swaying significantly in the blustery weather we buffeted by.

Bald Eagle

Not long after we had arrived, the eagle had had enough of this lookout point, stretched out its magnificent wings, lifted off, and turned back to soar up river towards the active nest.

Bald Eagle in flight.

From what I am reading and learning online, I would have to guess this is the female.  When side by side, the female is larger in overall size, and in wingspan.  But apart, and if close enough to tell, the clearest ways to tell are:

1. Eye shadow and eye brows: The female has a very pronounced eye brow and around the eye it looks like she is wearing eye shadow.
2. Mandible end point: the female's mandible ends at or almost behind the eye where male's is closer to before the eye.
3. White head: the male's is almost always brilliant white where the female has some faint streaking in it.

Here is actually a pretty good link for a short video where they go through the visible differences.

We followed the flight back to the nest site, and got to see the two eagles on the nest together.  If I'm correct that we had seen the female earlier, she relieved the male of egg sitting duties.  A post on BrantBirds says that at least one egg was laid on Feb 29th which would mean that about April 4th (35 days) the egg would hatch.  Its unknown how many there are, but it would seem there are eggs with obvious duty switches and persistent nest watch being taken seriously.

Male Bald Eagle leaves female (just visible) a turn on the nest.

I returned for a second visit today again and saw both the eagles.  I didn't get many pictures but will post a short description with photographic evidence soon.  Even though I didn't get many good pictures, it was a beautiful day standing in short sleeves, enjoying the warm sun!

After just getting lost part replaced by my machinist brother, I left my tripod there - I had lost track of time and had to rush to get home and back to church!  But I'm grateful to Sue, who I met and spent the afternoon watching the eagles with, for taking it home with her till we can cross paths in the near future so I can get it back!  Thanks Sue!

Bald Eagles in Paris

Holly was sleeping and the kids were either napping or playing nicely downstairs, trying to get over a bad cold that most of them have.  So I made a quiet exit and headed out to Glen Morris and Paris to the Grand River.  I had seen a posting that there were four juvenile Bald Eagles frequenting a field west of Grand River and thought I'd see if an ice Sunday drive with my camera would turn into any nice sightings.

The field and roads in the vicinity of the purported location yielded nothing, and along the drive I wasn't even seeing the Red-tailed hawks which I expected would be out on a somewhat sunny afternoon.  However, as I drove towards Paris on the west side of the river, I saw a set of the classic red-tailed hawk silhouettes circling lazily in the sky over the opposite side.  They were maintaining their location, so I hoped maybe they'd still be there once I'd crossed the river in Paris and doubled back.

juvenile Bald Eagle on the Grand River (heavily cropped shot!)

Well, I got something  better...  just as I passed under the high rail bridge on Willow Street (see this map) a huge form flew over head and banked back towards the river.  A juvenile Bald Eagle landed in a snag across the river.  I quickly parked, jumped out and got off only one picture before it flew away, heading south and raising all the Canadian Geese into the air from their grazing in the golf course across the way.

Back in the car, I followed in pursuit and parked in the rail trail parking lot just a little further down, where I couldn't see any sign of the bird after pushing my way through the bush to the top of the steep bank of the river.  I did pause there to speak with an older gentleman who walks the trail every day.  He mentioned he had heard there were two adults and two juveniles, and that there was talk of the adults nesting in the area.  I'm hoping someone on Guelph/Cambridge/KW Birding has heard more of this and can fill me in.  Here's hoping they stay in the area.  Bald Eagles have made quite a come back in the Great Lakes area, and around this area having been seen for a number of years now along the Grand River, and in Hamilton Harbour.  They have nested in Brantford in the past and are being watched in Coote's Paradise on RBG side this year, hopeful that they will raise some young there.  The last link from RBG gives some brief history on Bald Eagles in the area.

Well, I headed down to the old railway bridge lookout (near the end of Blue Lake Road) off the Rail Trail.  I waited there for a while, seeing if there was anything of interest.  The older gentleman had said he's sat their before and watched the eagles soar right past at eye level.  While waiting I saw a lone, injured Canada Goose float by.  It appeared to have a broken wing.  I can't imagine it will survive long like that.  (The picture is heavily cropped as it was on the far side of the river.)

Canada Goose with broken wing

My patience finally paid off, as soon on the horizon, flying north towards me were two large sets of wings.  They were having fun, jockeying in the air.  Hard to capture in pictures.  Again, they were far off, but it was still exciting to see the large shapes that your eye immediately knows are larger than the typical hawk proportions.

Two juvenile Bald Eagles having fun.

They landed in a large tree down river where they called to each other for a while.  It was strange, sort of almost a whistling sound.  

juvenile Bald Eagles

Then, after about 5 minutes, they took off and, to my dismay, headed south instead of north towards me, swiftly flying towards Paris and climbing up the bluff and somewhere into town.

I have to admit I never expected to see any Eagles when I left, but was quite pleased to be able to see them  after all.  I'll have to try and get some more information about where they are regularly being seen and make some more trips in the future.  If they're hanging around here, the lookout is only a 10 minute drive from my place.  Finally, a bird I pursued found! :)