Partly cloudy early, with clouds building through the morning. The marine layer overcast had filled the skies over town by mid-afternoon. Light winds and temperatures into the 30s.
I noticed an email about a shrike in my neighborhood from yesterday ended up in spam. I assume it’s the same shrike seen elsewhere earlier in the week, but I’ve not seen it yet.
Hoping to see it, I was inspired to go for a walk down to the park.
Instead of heading down Park Street, I had the impulse to turn right on Biorka.
I hadn’t walked too far when I heard birds that I didn’t see at first. After a few moments, I spotted movement in a mountain ash. Then I saw juncos, and noticed a brown bird that was definitely not a junco.
A brown finch, I figured either a Purple Finch or Cassin’s Finch, but off the top of my head I didn’t remember what to look for specifically. This one didn’t look quite like any that I had seen before. The head was more boldly striped, and the breast had streaks more like I see on our local Fox Sparrows. Overall the plumage seemed much more contrasty than others I’ve seen.
Connor came and took a look, and said it was a Purple Finch, reminding me the undertail coverts being white (unstreaked) pointed that direction. He also said the greater amount of contrast could indicate an Eastern Purple Finch.
While this was happening, I received a text with photo about the swan with an odd bend in its neck.
The photo was from the beach along Eagle Way. I didn’t find out until later it was from yesterday, so I went to Eagle Way to look. When I didn’t see any swans, I figured they had moved over to the park.
I started with a walk around the main loop.
The clouds had been north, west and further south, but by midday when I was walking, they were beginning to close in fully.
The tide was high, and several swans were up in the flooded estuary meadow. I could see the one of interest, and it was close enough to a Trumpeter Swan to see it was distinctly smaller.
I wanted a better look, so I walked up and around to the far loop.
Along the way, I paused to watch swans stirring up gravel in the river. Two mergansers were diving among them, presumably grabbing some of the food the swans were stirring up.
I did get a better look at the smaller swan. I could see yellow at base of its bill.
While watching the swan, I also noticed a Gadwall among the other dabbling ducks. I’m guessing it’s the same one seen by several in December (I saw it at Swan Lake), but it hadn’t been reported so far this year.
Later this afternoon was a walk and talk with my parents. I made it to the view point in just under 23 minutes. This was five minutes faster than last time. However this time I wasn’t carrying my pack and I was using microspikes.
On a related note, I purchased carbon fiber insoles to see if they would help with the microscpikes on my preferred shoes.
I like minimalist shoes, but their soles are so flexible I found the microspikes very uncomfortable. It wasn’t the pressure from underneath, but rather than binding all around from the rubber that holds the microspikes on.
I considered getting lightweight strapon crampons (more of the instep variety), but they are fairly expensive, and I was not sure they would work. The insoles were relatively cheap, and seemed a good option to try first.
They worked reasonbably well. By the time I was nearly back, my feet were uncomfortable and a little tingly, but I think it worked better than not having the insoles. Genereally, I wouldn’t expect to need to wear them for long stretches of time, so I think they’ll be helpful for earlier in the season outings.
I also received a new 100-400mm RF lens today. It’s much smaller than the 100-500mm I have been primarily using. The image stabilization has stopped working on that one, so need to send it in. Since I thought the smaller lens would be handy for reducing weight and bulk while hiking in the summer, I decided to get it before sending the lens in for repair. I took it up the trail with me this afternoon, and found it a much more pleasant carry for that kind of outing.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
