Monday Bird Walk, Pacific Grove Shore & Washington Park

We have been having rain for a few days, but the weather cooperated on Monday this week.  We experienced three quite different habitat locations; ocean shore, near ocean pond and inland park-like settings with different observations in each location.

We began our tour at the ocean shore with local expert Brian Weed and immediately saw an immature Black-crowned Night Heron on the rocks by the ocean. It was early morning and the birds were catching the warming rays of the sun - not seen for days.
The Seattle Audubon group does a fine job of giving us detail on each of the Western birds. Find their information on the Black-crowned Night Heron here.

Nearby, a Whimbrel was sunning with a gull on the same rocks. A moment later they were all gone - off for the days search for food most likely. The Seattle Audubon information for the Whimbrel can be found here.

Then we were off to Crespi Pond, a fresh water pond about 100 yards inland from the sea, where the sea birds enjoy the quiet protected area. Although we have not seen Heermann's Gulls for many days, this immature example was enjoying the early morning sun. It is interesting that the Heermann's Gull changes plumage so dramatically from the immature example shown to the adult that we have shown previously. More information showing the adult plumage can be found here.

 

We also found this fine lone example of the Northern Pintail, sometimes on the bank of the pond and sometimes swimming with a group of local Mallards. More information about the Northern Pintail can be found here.

 

We then moved south along the shore to an area called Cozy Cove where we expected different sea birds. Not disappointed, we immediately saw this fine example of a Killdeer standing motionless in the sun. We got several shots - this one was the best. More information from Seattle Audubon here.

Nearby we were fortunate to have this example of a Snowy Egret land on the rocks in the protected cove. We got him just as he landed. Snowy Egrets are quite common along the coast year-round, but always a fine sighting with their distinctive plumage and "fishing" behavior. The Cornell Lab has a bit better information on the Snowy Egret here.

Then as he was getting settled this somewhat different pose shows some of the fine feather detail but not his characteristic yellow "Wellies".

After spending some time at Cozy Cove, we went inland to Washington Park in Pacific Grove where we encountered an entirely different habitat. It was cool and very humid but the birds were very active.

We were hoping to find a Summer Tanager which has been sighted in the park within the last few days. This day we were not rewarded but we will keep visiting the park frequently to see if we can get his unusual sighting.

The Acorn Woodpecker, true to his name, was busy removing this acorn from the "storage tree" with an idea apparently to find a better location. Below we see the typical "storage tree" where the Acorn Woodpeckers keep their food supply. The Seattle Audubon site has much more information on the habitat and social behavior here.

Note the acorns stored in the holes - Acorns for the next meal anyone?

Some other examples of the early morning activity at the park included this Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Again, the Seattle Audubon information is very complete and is found here.

This California Towhee. Cornell Labs information here.

This Dark-eyed Junco. Seattle Audubon information here.

And a special treat was finding the Pygmy Nuthatch in someone's feeder just at the edge of the Park. We will try again to get this shot outside of the cage. More information here.

 

The dense foliage in the Park included a lot of Poison Oak bursting with new growth and given a wide berth by everyone, as well as this specimen identified as a Wild Cucumber. It doesn't look particularly inviting but certainly a nice example of the diversity of nature.

And finally returning home after a productive morning we spotted this fine example of a Willet feeding along the shore near Cozy Cove. Apparently in the Washington State area, the Willet isn't as common as in Northern California but they have excellent information on the species here.