East Bay Birders

Hooded Mergansers

2006-09-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

Having watched some mergansers for the last several weeks, thinking them to be common mergansers, the change to fall/winter plummage has shown them to in fact be hooded mergansers. The change in plummage from a week ago is dramatic.

Wood Duck and Greater Yellowlegs (not in the same place)

2006-09-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

We went to walk at McClane Creek yesterday, but were pretty much rained out. We were there just long enought to see a pair of wood ducks in their winter plummage. Today I saw again a yellowlegs down by east bay at low tide.

Miscellany

2006-09-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

The double crested cormorant was taken from Titlow Beach in Tacoma on September 12th.

The greater yellowlegs was feeding by east bay this morning. We see more and more of both these birds lately, a teaser, perhaps, of some of the birds we may see in the coming months.

Gang of Red-Breasted Mergansers

2006-09-08T11:06:00.000-07:00

Today I glanced out of the window and saw a splashing ruckus in the distance, so I walked down to the waterfront. Once there I could see several, eight as I later counted, juvenile red-breasted mergansers making a beeline for the area by the culvert that lets Moxlie Creek drain into East Bay. I sat on the grass and watched them splash about, catch fish, protect their catch, frustrate a heron's hunting, and generally have a good time for about twenty minutes. Included here are the best two pics.

Scrubjay Plus

2006-09-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

Today was a great day to take a walk and, duly inspired by a pair of scrubjays in the yard, I did so. Here are a couple of pictures from it. The glaucous-winged gull is trying to crack a cockle on a walkway by the Olympia Yacht Club. In the main bowl of Capitol Lake was a bunch of American Coots.

Pictures From the Last Few Days

2006-09-04T15:12:00.000-07:00

I haven't gotten a chance to just sit down in front of the computer the last few days so here are just a few pics from the last few days. The bald eagle was an amazing catch. I was walking one of the trails in nearby Priest Point park and as the trail turned left to a cliffside when I noticed the eagle in the tree ahead of me maybe twenty feet frm me. I was really startled at my proximity to the giant bird and managed to get but one picture of it before it expressed its startlement at me by flying away!

I couldn't resist uploading the pic of the three killdeer; they just make me smile.

2006-08-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

Birding is a funny thing. Dana and I have only birding seriously since Christmas, which accounts for some of this, but today I was really excited when I was down by Capitol Lake to identify two spotted sandpipers (one of which is pictured here, already in winter plummage). These were a first for me, and like many peeps, they were small, cute and fun to watch. Upon reading up on them upon my return home, I noted from the field guide "The Birds of Washington State," by Brian H. Bell and Gregory Kennedy, that "apart from the ubiquitous Killdeer, the Spotted Sandpiper is perhaps North America's best-known and most easily identified shorebird." What's funny about all of this is that the thrill of seeing these charming birds for the first time was fantastic, and not in any way diminished by learning of their abundance. According to the distribution map, they winter in this part of the state which suggests these guys just showed up.
Also pictured is a great blue heron with a big fish in its throat, which I found very amusing.

Two Hours Past High Tide

2006-08-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

I walked from East Bay to West Bay today. Lots was happening: 5 killdeer were squeaking vociferously, crows were grooming the ever more exposed mudflats, herons seemed to be everywhere, a kingfisher perched from the purple martin boxes (the martins seem to have abandoned them since their chicks fledged and the few that remain seem to be gathering in the trees before migrating south in the following weeks), a double-crested cormorant was out on the water, starlings sat in all the trees impersonating seemingly all the local song birds and thusly teasing this here birder, seals were in both bays, a baby glaucous winged (I think) gull picked at a dead salmon's head.

All in all, it was a serene walk. I don't cease to be grateful for the chance to watch such spectacles.

August 26th

2006-08-26T13:33:00.000-07:00

Dana and I went for a walk today. Lots of the same usual birds and seals. Included here is a novelty of a great blue heron sat atop a street light.

Later in the day, I spyed a bald eagle outside our house in the mudflats of low tide, scavenging about.

2006-08-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

I walked from the east bay to the west bay at about 2:30 this afternoon. In the east bay I saw a couple of great blue herons, gulls and the like. Just as I was heading over to the west bay, a large shadow caught my eye. It was the osprey that is pictured above! It was way closer than I have had a chance to see one before.
Not two minutes later I saw the green heron pictured above. It is the third green heron I have seen this week! The first was on a log in the middle bowl of Capitol Lake and the second flew past the east bay. Before this I had only seen them once before when two flew past Dana and I on the west side in May or June.
The blue heron pic is taken from the 5th Ave. bridge in Oly. It was watching the seals fight over salmon like everybody else there this afternoon. An osprey circled overhead there too; probably the same one.

Western Scrub Jay

2006-08-24T12:53:00.000-07:00

I see these jays most days I am out and about in the neighborhood, and today I happened to have my camera in the car when I drove pas this one and its mate. We never saw these birds on the west side of town when we lived there, only Stellar's Jays. Now we see them all the time on the east side. They are beautiful.

August 24th, 7:30am

2006-08-24T08:39:00.000-07:00

I went for a walk around the bay early-ish this morning and there were several different species to be enjoyed; a blue heron, about 10 kill deer, 15-16 mallards, 3 red-breasted mergansers, some western gulls, a belted kingfisher, some caspian terns and the ubiquitous crows. A harbor seal surfaced twice , but not long enough for me to snap him.

A Closer Look!!

2006-08-21T14:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I posted a less magnified version of this picture, referencing killdeer. However, the same picture flashed up as a screen saver, upon which I noticed that, in fact, the bird on the left
is a sandpiper of some kind, probably a solitary sandpiper.

This morning, at low tide, while I was at work, Dana watched two bald eagles picking over the mud, but was unable to get a picture! Next time...

August 20th, 2006

2006-08-20T13:54:00.000-07:00

I walked down the yard to check out the bay at about 12:30 pm today. The tide was coming in the and the bay was just starting to fill in. Many of the usual suspects were there, such as the above 2 herons, killdeer. also present were some crows, glaucous winged gulls and a few starlings, as well as a couple of purple martins.

Welcome To East Bay Birders!

2006-08-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

My wife, Dana, and I recently moved into a house on the East Bay in Olympia, Washington, at the very south end of Puget Sound. Avid birders, we were excited to live so close to some marine birds. In the three weeks since we moved in, we have seen quite a variety of birds, as well some river otters and the occasional seal. Our hope with this blog is simply to archive the birds and other animals that we encounter here.

Above is the view looking northwest from our yard.