Bird Watching and creation continues

Went to Discovery Park today and walked a mile or so with Namio dog and binoculars. I saw very few birds but I heard much more than I saw. Hearing birds and knowing them by voice is a pleasure, like hearing a secret language that others around you don't know.

Birds heard but not seen - Northern flicker, hairy woodpecker, Stellar Jay, Scrub Jay, chestnut backed chickadee, anna's hummingbird, bush tit, song sparrow, white crowned sparrow, winter wren, bewick's wren and one of my favorites of all time - a nuthatch with its silly neep neep neeep call.

I saw crows (of course), robins, red tailed hawk, black capped chickadee and English sparrow. In a shady area there were birds rattling in the dry leaves -  around here you think instantly of the towhee - so I was not that excited but decided to get a visual to confirm  (first clue that they weren't towhees - towhees have a very distinctive call and are fond of giving it). After moving around and crouching for a better view I saw some orange - again thought towhee but then everything snapped into focus - STRIPES of orange - a varied thrush. I adore these birds - they have a song that rises over  the morning chorus of the old growth forest around here - such an amazing song that I have used adjectives like 'transcendent, ringing, dreamy, incandescent, ethereal' to describe it. They are also beautiful and quite scarce around here, so what a pleasure to see them!

Really great photo of a varied thrush here and hear their song here. The only comment I have is that yes it is very loud song, but when it is heard with other songs, in the morning with the fog and forest canopy muffling it, there is no better music.

When I pulled up to my house there was a big ray of sunshine and a mixed flock of ruby crowned kinglets, golden crowned kinglets and bush tits were foraging around and under my rock rose. That was a nice treat!

Working on making more bowls and I also made a couple big platters - one engraved and one with sprigged on peacock feathers. The engraved one is still drying out and it has flattened a bit so I am considering boring holes in it to make it a wall hanging. Also, drop plates are on the agenda, as are small animal pendants.

Bird Watching Day

Simple drawing of the view from the bluff at Discovery Park in Seattle - Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains and the grayness of it in January. However, I did not go to Discovery today, I went to the Montlake Fill, which is a reclaimed garbage dump right next to the University of Washington. It is a natural area bounded on one side by the Center For Urban Horticulture that also has a nice garden to visit.

I went there to bird, and even though it was a very cold and windy day I saw some good species. My sole complaint about the place is that the ambient noise is high - airplanes, boats, barking dogs and just the ambient traffic from the surrounding roads can make it difficult to identify birds by hearing.

My list today - chickadee, song sparrow, oregon junco, scrub jay, flicker (heard only), anna's hummingbird (heard only), towhee, robin, white crowned sparrow, red tailed hawk, bald eagle, bufflehead, gadwall, greater scaup, green winged teal, american wigeon, northern shoveler, mallard, winter wren, bewick's wren, marsh wren, redwing blackbird (heard only), cormorant (spp unknown), canada goose and ruddy duck.

There were probably a few more species of waterfowl (usually my patience here is rewarded with wood ducks and mergansers), but the water was very choppy and the wind was driving things around. Not seeing a great blue heron was weird. Now of course I will say again RUDDY DUCK! The first one I have ever seen, just a single one located on the main pond among the northern shovelers. I saw it listed on the birder's kiosk at the start of the trail and figured I would not see it, since I rarely see the exciting things people list, but he was very cooperative, even if he was in his dull winter plumage. When I saw him I have to admit that I whispered "YES" and pumped my fist.

The wrens were another story. In Seattle it is normal to have bewick's wrens - they even used to be called "Seattle Wrens" before they got lumped with the bewicks. Winter wrens are more of a deep cover/forest species, so it was a surprise to see this tiny, fluffy dark guy tumble across the trail in front of me. Winter wrens act a bit like mice, always in heavy cover and undergrowth, so I call them mouse birds too. Marsh wrens - well to be expected on the edge of Lake Washington, but it was cool to get the wren trifecta all within an acre.

The bald eagle pair I saw were obviously courting, circling and flying low over the landscape - they're generally pretty lazy cruisers, so to see them interacting with each other was pretty neat. Good to see how healthy and shiny their plumage was, like they'd been to a good bird barber recently.

Anyhow, off to clean the studio. The kiln is at 900F and climbing, hopefully a kiln opening of finished pieces tomorrow morning.