I got up early and recorded some of the morning bird songs. Later in the morning Rowan spent some time with Melissa’s mom this morning and I had the chance to hike up part of Gavan and along the upper cross trail to the viewpoint. After picking her up, we went to Swan Lake and I spent some time watching the birds there.
Weather: It was overcast throughout the day, but there was no rain. Wind was light.
Birds: There were a lot of birds singing at 5am. It was not early enough for it to be a dawn chorus, but perhaps it was the encore.
Along Gavan Trail there were juncos active in the muskeg. I also heard chickadees and in the distance Steller’s Jays. In a brushy patch further up the trail in the forest, there was a Wilson’s Warbler actively singing while flitting about.
At Swan Lake there were two dowitchers, two American Wigeons, a scaup, a male hooded merganser, and a pair of Green-winged Teal to go along with the assorted mallards and swallows I expected to find. In addition, I saw a crow that seemed to have a deformed beak. After we had spent some time there, a flock of ten Greater White-fronted Geese flew over and landed. They stayed on the lake only for a minute before flying up again. They circled around a few times with a couple of geese landing at different times, but eventually they all flew off.
Flora: There were sedges blooming in the muskeg along Gavan Trail. Also cloudberries. It looked like the three-leaf goldthread was about bloomed out. I did not see much else blooming there yet.