Trip To The Park

This morning I walked down to the park. On my way down to the park I caught the aroma of of some freshly cut grass being carried by the light South, Southeast wind. As I walked along the Seawalk I noticed a couple of Ravens soaring. They did slow circles, calmly flapping their wings occasionally as they put more and more distance between them and the ground that was below them. I proceeded down to the park, where I noticed a pair of Green-winged teal close to shore. I walked along the trail like I was just going into the woods, as to not make them nervous. After I lost sit of them I headed over towards some Salmon berry bushes. Cutting through a section of the bushes was a old trail. I walked over to trail, got down on my hands and nees and proceeded to feel the damp trail as I belly crawled down it to the edge of the bushes where I pocked my head out to see that the male Green-winged teal had noticed me and was starting to swim away and that the female was following him.

I got up brushed myself off and walked down the beach. As I walking down the beach I saw that there was a flock of Green-winged teal sleeping out at the edge of the water. I walked down the beach so that I could get into a better position it attempt to sneak up on them. There was a low spot in the beach that extended out a ways towards the water line, so I walked to the edge of it then got down and started crawling on my hands and nees out towards where the Teal were sleeping. The low spot was deep enough that the Teal didn’t see as I approached, but I was going to need to go out of the low spot so that I could get closer to them. After I had crawled over rocks that didn’t feel all that great on my nees I finally reach the edge of the low spot where I was able to graduate from crawling on my hands and nees to belly crawling over the rocks to get closer to the Teal. As I excitedly crawled over the rocks, towards the teal which were still sleeping at the edge of the water, I felt the heat coming up from the rocks that combined with the sun beating down on me and all the work that I was doing crawling over the quite unconformable rock I worked up a sweat. I was able to get with in about 30 feet of them before they started to stir more and then eventually fly. After they flew I got up and walked back towards the trail. The three Great-blue herons that had been watching me the whole time remained where they were and did not seem to be to wried about me as I walked back toward the trail.

I got back on the trail and walked down to the end of the park. At the end of the park I saw a Pacific Golden-plover that stood bobbing up and down from time to time as I walked by. A bit further down the trail I saw a few Savannah  sparrows and an American pipit working the top of the beach. As I watched them move around I heard the dry seaweed crunch underneath their little feet. I watched them for a bit then continued down the beach and got back on the trail.

I calmly walked down the trail listening to the birds that were singing around me.  Just before I got to the entrance I was hit by a wave cool air that tasted a bit of fresh water. The park staff was using a fire hose to clean the parking lot. I proceeded around them and headed home.