After several days of overcast and rain, I took advantage of unforecast afternoon clearing and went for a walk to Totem Park. Later I stopped by Swan Lake to check things out on our way to have dinner with friends.
Weather: Overcast, with clearing skies in the afternoon. A light breeze was out of the southwest.
Birds: I have been hearing a Steller’s Jay in the neighborhood lately, usually in the morning.
Down at the park there were few shorebirds, I think I heard some Black Turnstones and the hummingbirds seemed to have moved on.
There were probably a couple of hundred gulls on the south/southeast beach.
I saw several Winter Wrens. There plumage was a little ragged which makes me wonder if they are going through a molt.
I saw one Varied Thrush and at least 2 different Catharus thrushes in the berry bushes on the river side of the fort site. It appeared they were going after the ripe huckleberries.
I saw one warbler in the fireweed, I think it was an Orange-crowned Warbler, but I did not get a very good look.
I realized it has been awhile since I last saw an American Robin while I was in the park. I then saw one fly by just as I came out of the woods. I think the local breeders have moved south.
This evening at the lake, in addition to the many mallards, there were two Hooded Mergansers and one Green-wing Teal. At least one of the mergansers appeared to be a juvenile.
Other Notes: The fireweed still has not started seeding yet. They also looks like they have far more flower buds than can possibly have time to bloom this summer.
There was a squirrel eating huckleberries at the fort site.
There was a dragonfly near the fireweed area. It seemed like it prefered to rest on vegetation and would only fly for short periods of time after it had been spooked from its resting place. It was a darner of some sort, but I am not sure what species.