I spent some time this morning watching the shorebirds at Eagle Way beach. The flocks on the beach this morning were the first substantial ones other than the mix of Surfbirds, Black Turnstones and Rock Sandpipers that were at the park a couple of weeks ago. Among the mix of birds was a Semiplamated Sandpiper, a species I don’t find every year, though they probably do move through in small numbers.
With sunny and warm weather (temperatures over 60F), I felt motivated to do some yard work and was interested to see quite a few beetles crawling around in the soil I had turned. What I saw looked mostly like some sort of staphyllinid.
This evening I got a note about the white primaried Bald Eagle. It has apparently been hanging out in the vicinity of Crescent Harbor recently, so I went for a walk down there. Quite a few people along the seawalk on the nice evening, and I was happy to find the eagle in the trees across from the science center. I got a couple of not-the-greatest pictures of it as it took off and flew towards downtown. I lost it when it passed around and behind the trees of the Russian Cemetery.