I enjoyed the usual early spring birds songs emanating from the forest on a walk through the park this morning. There was the buzzing notes of Varied Thrush, rapid fire bursts from Pacific Wrens, short but acrobatic melodies of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and the falling song of Golden-crowned Kinglets. The tide was up relatively high, and a cursory look didn’t any shorebirds other than 15 or so Black Oystercatchers. A much reduced flock of dabbling ducks was out in front of the visitor center, but I did not see anything unusual. (Later in the day a Eurasian Wigeon was reported in the mix – probably the same one reported at Swan Lake early this morning.)
There were several of the red net-winged beetles (Dictyoptera simplicipes) that is fairly common in forests this time of year. Of particular interest to me was a stack of three. It’s the first time I’ve seen them like that (I don’t even recall seeing two together before). I assume it had something to do with mating, but I don’t really know.
Another first of season insect was the Small Engrailed Moth (Ectropis crepuscularia). I’ve seen this kind of moth in prior years (though I am not 100% confident about the correct identification). It seems to be relatively common among moths found on exterior walls where they’ve been attracted to light.
This afternoon the first of a couple of shipments of plants arrived, so I guess I’ll have to start getting serious about where to put them in the yard sooner rather than later.
