Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Eagle and Ruddy Duck

Walking around the lake this morning about 8:30, a juvenile bald eagle was fishing in the lake, which made the canada geese a bit agitated. He caught 3 fish while I watched, though he threw one of them back for some reason. I had my camera with me, but most of the action shots are too far away to see much. At one point, he flew over my head and let me get a slightly closer shot:


Juvenile Bale Eagle

I also spotted a lone female Ruddy Duck on the lake, another first for me.

I also forgot to mention that last week there was a Belted Kingfisher hanging out around the island for several days. I spotted it on thursday and sunday.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Sparrows on the move

It seems fall is officially here. Just a few days ago, I saw my first junco of the season at powderhorn park. Today, many others have joined. There are also quite a few white-throated sparrows around the park, mostly hanging out by the reeds on the northwest side of the lake. I also saw a swamp sparrow in the NW reeds this morning; the first time I've seen one at powderhorn. Another highlight from this morning - my first sighting of a harris' sparrow. It was hanging out in the conifer trees up on the hill near the tennis courts. It looked like a first winter bird, as the black on the face and neck was quite light.

A few warblers are also clearly moving through. This morning I saw at least 3 palm warblers in the NW reeds, in addition to 1 nashville warbler. A couple days prior, a ruby-crowned kinglet was hanging out here as well.