When the weather forecaster suggests there is no threat of rain until late in the day, what he means is that it's going to rain ALL day. Duh. I went up to Ridgefield this morning anyway and had a great time.. I'll start things off with a bit of an ID quiz...
Nope, not the gull. It's a Herring Gull. I'm talkin bout what that gull was chowing down on...
It's a duck. That's all I got.
Even with the rain things were pretty...
In one of the lakes were about sixty dowitchers snoozing, scratching, or splashing...
Song Sparrows were the bird of the day. They are always everywhere but today it was crazy. There was a flock of 15 foraging on the road at one point, later joined by 13 Golden-crowneds and 2 White-crowneds. There was a couple singing to each other in the marsh grass, and another just hanging out on a cattail.
At first glance this looked like a straight up Bufflehead crew:
Note the imposter! Next up was my favorite bird of the day, a beautifulRough-legged Hawk light morph Harlan's Hawk!
(Thanks to Seagull Steve for the ID help- I started questioning this bird after looking at flight photos and suggested it was actually a light morph Harlan's and Steve agreed).
Tundra Swans are abundant at Ridgefield. I found this couple quite charming...
Here's another charming couple for you:
It was a great morning! Followed up with some soggy yard work and now finally some winter beer. Good times!!
Nope, not the gull. It's a Herring Gull. I'm talkin bout what that gull was chowing down on...
It's a duck. That's all I got.
Even with the rain things were pretty...
In one of the lakes were about sixty dowitchers snoozing, scratching, or splashing...
Song Sparrows were the bird of the day. They are always everywhere but today it was crazy. There was a flock of 15 foraging on the road at one point, later joined by 13 Golden-crowneds and 2 White-crowneds. There was a couple singing to each other in the marsh grass, and another just hanging out on a cattail.
At first glance this looked like a straight up Bufflehead crew:
Note the imposter! Next up was my favorite bird of the day, a beautiful
Tundra Swans are abundant at Ridgefield. I found this couple quite charming...
It was a great morning! Followed up with some soggy yard work and now finally some winter beer. Good times!!
Yah, pretty bleak out today. Perfect for wreath making and drinking whiskey in the Little Red Shed ;) Looks nice at Ridgefield! I'm afraid no birding is on the agenda for me this weekend...maybe Crystal Springs tomorrow morning if its not too wet.
ReplyDeleteHa! Imposter, you have been revealed! No duck can escape the eagle eyes of Flycatcher Jen!
ReplyDeleteYou seem to manage having a great time even out in the rain. Love the Rough-legged hawk and Eagles. The sparrow and swans are pretty. Happy Birding and a great week ahead.
ReplyDeleteVury Purdy Jen.
ReplyDeleteI want to say female Mallard for the gull-lunch duck, but it seems too small relative to the Gull for that to be the case. Maybe it was a female Bufflehead, or even the missing mate of that Ruddy Duck, who now is trying to have the Bufflehead tribe adopt him.
OH Ill have a bottle of that winter beer!
ReplyDeleteGreat birds Jen, I love the Eagles thats just an awesome shot the composition of that shot is just amazing!