This week I hit up Ridgefield and the other Larch Mountain to see what was going on. Ridgefield was a let down, as the grass and teasel is so overgrown that trying to view any shorebird sites is impossible. Also I saw no coot babies. What good is Ridgefield in July if there are no coot babies? I recall seeing exactly one coot. Wtf.
There were some young Pied-billed Grebes that almost made up for it. But they were losing their zebra stripes already...
Want to know how boring Ridgefield was? Here:
Yeah. I took photos of geese. Rough day. Larch Mountain (the OTHER Larch Mountain, that is) was more interesting. I had only been up there once before in the winter and it was rainy and foggy. Ok so it was still a bit foggy.
I walked the dogs around this clearcut area off L-1400 for awhile. Many warbler songs were heard, none of which I felt confident enough to slap an ID on without getting a visual. They were mostly in the Hermit-ish, Townsends-ish realm. Thankfully other birds were not so secretive.
Spotted Towhee
Band-tailed Pigeon sounds add an extra eerie quality to foggy forests.
When I got back to the car to head to the next stop I found this:
SERIOUSLY? Apparently I was supposed to display a Discover Pass here. I have a Discover Pass in my glove box. Perhaps they will use my benjamin to buy some signs to actually tell people where they need to display their Discover Passes.
Ugh. Anyway. I dug out my pass after this incident and displayed it at future stops.
Western Tanager
MacGillivray's Warbler
Busted Steller's Jay
Willow Flycatcher with a sick view
Turkey Vulture doing epic poses
Bad photo of a Pine Siskin. First one I've seen all year. Wild.
Mount St. Helens with Mount Rainier peeking out on the right
Mount Rainier from a different viewpoint
Good times except for the ticket!
There were some young Pied-billed Grebes that almost made up for it. But they were losing their zebra stripes already...
Want to know how boring Ridgefield was? Here:
Yeah. I took photos of geese. Rough day. Larch Mountain (the OTHER Larch Mountain, that is) was more interesting. I had only been up there once before in the winter and it was rainy and foggy. Ok so it was still a bit foggy.
I walked the dogs around this clearcut area off L-1400 for awhile. Many warbler songs were heard, none of which I felt confident enough to slap an ID on without getting a visual. They were mostly in the Hermit-ish, Townsends-ish realm. Thankfully other birds were not so secretive.
Band-tailed Pigeon sounds add an extra eerie quality to foggy forests.
When I got back to the car to head to the next stop I found this:
SERIOUSLY? Apparently I was supposed to display a Discover Pass here. I have a Discover Pass in my glove box. Perhaps they will use my benjamin to buy some signs to actually tell people where they need to display their Discover Passes.
Ugh. Anyway. I dug out my pass after this incident and displayed it at future stops.
Good times except for the ticket!
You always have the best scenery out of any blog I follow, and there's always a bird tucked in there somewhere. Love it. Also love the MacGillivray's.
ReplyDeleteYeah what Nate said. Your primordial scene shots with sprinkles of birds make the heart stop, and then the next ones zaps it back to life.
ReplyDeleteI'd appeal that bullshit ticket--if you have time and tell the judge you had the badge already I'll bet they wave the fine--of course, spending a couple hours at municipal court may not be worth it.
I'm supes jealous of your BTPI
Damn! that ticket sucks...I'd do what Laurence said...
ReplyDeleteAwesome scenery the St Helen's and birds too...i love to see geese they are so photogenic!
Hey you never came to see my birdathon post...but I got a great look at a Yellow crowned night heron, which was a complete surprise.