I have done some bit of birding in California and rest of my birding has been in Texas. And I did not get any time to do birding when I visited Boston last year. But I did see my first Black-capped Chickadee in their backyard. We had been planning to visit Seattle during spring time to see the Tulip fields. And I wanted to block some of my time during this trip to do some birding there.
We started planning earlier this year and finalized the dates for mid April. I had hoped to see some early migrants there. After doing some research on ebird to check the prime birding spots I decided to plan my visits to Discovery park and Union Bay Natural area. Another park which I planned to visit if time permitted was Marymoor park which was close to the place where I was staying. I ended up covering both Marymoor park and Discovery park during my stay but could not cover the Union Bay.
The first park I visited was the Marymoor park. Rain showers were predicted for the entire day but I decided to try my luck anyways. I headed to the park after going through the trail map. There is a car parking fee of about 1$ here. There is an audobon trail which takes you through the woodlands and the meadows. The trail was very good. The trail does run along the stream for a while. I decided to start from there.
There were quite a few ducks in the stream. I saw Green-winged Teal, Mallards and Gadwalls here. There were few Canada goose too. Along the trail I saw a big nesting area of Great Blue Herons. I saw more than 15 nests there. The birds were going back and forth from the stream to the nests. Its an amazing place to have the nests so close by the stream. Along the trail I saw lot of sparrows too. The first was a Song sparrow. I also saw lot of Lincoln's and then the sparrow that I wanted to see in seattle, the Golden-crowned sparrow. I saw few of these sparrows around the trail. They are wintering birds in Seattle and I was lucky to see them multiple times during the day's walk.
I had some birds in my wishlist for this seattle trip and one of the birds was Red-breasted Sapsucker. And I was lucky to see this bird during the start of the trial itself. There were 3 of them chasing each other. They briefly flew to the trees on which there were GBH nests and they flew across the stream. One of the birds flying right across me :-)
Across the stream I saw there were some GBH which had lined on the banks trying to catch their food. And on one of the tree branches I saw a Belted Kingfisher waiting to catch its morning breakfast. It did catch couple of them when i was watching it for a while. There were some Hooded Mergansers in the stream. I saw one male along with 2 females there. This was my second sighting of this bird. My first sighting was at Lake Tawakoni when I saw group of them flying over the lake.
On the trail I saw lot of Black-capped Chickadees and heard Wren calls a lot. I only saw Bewick's wren but failed to see any other Wren species. Also American Robins were seen in good numbers during the day's walk. I also saw a lone Northern Flickr working on its nest hole. I also few Anna's Humming bird during the day.
I also saw few Spotted Towhees and Wood Ducks. The first time I saw Wood ducks on the trees :-) always wanted to see that. I also saw few Buffleheads in the lake and there were quite a number of Tree swallows flying around.
After birding around the lake, I headed towards the Meadows. On the way I saw my first Rufous Hummingbird. There were few Stellar Jay's flying around. In the meadows they have some nesting boxes for swallows. We could see lot of Tree swallows flying over the meadows and on these nest boxes. I also saw my first Say's pheobe here. Just got a record photograph to confirm if I was right about the bird. I also saw loggerheaded shrike here on the meadows.
The only raptors I saw during the day was a flyover of an Osprey and a Bald eagle.
It was a great start to birding in Seattle :-)
ebird : http://ebird.org/ebird/view/
Birds seen during the day.
We started planning earlier this year and finalized the dates for mid April. I had hoped to see some early migrants there. After doing some research on ebird to check the prime birding spots I decided to plan my visits to Discovery park and Union Bay Natural area. Another park which I planned to visit if time permitted was Marymoor park which was close to the place where I was staying. I ended up covering both Marymoor park and Discovery park during my stay but could not cover the Union Bay.
The first park I visited was the Marymoor park. Rain showers were predicted for the entire day but I decided to try my luck anyways. I headed to the park after going through the trail map. There is a car parking fee of about 1$ here. There is an audobon trail which takes you through the woodlands and the meadows. The trail was very good. The trail does run along the stream for a while. I decided to start from there.
There were quite a few ducks in the stream. I saw Green-winged Teal, Mallards and Gadwalls here. There were few Canada goose too. Along the trail I saw a big nesting area of Great Blue Herons. I saw more than 15 nests there. The birds were going back and forth from the stream to the nests. Its an amazing place to have the nests so close by the stream. Along the trail I saw lot of sparrows too. The first was a Song sparrow. I also saw lot of Lincoln's and then the sparrow that I wanted to see in seattle, the Golden-crowned sparrow. I saw few of these sparrows around the trail. They are wintering birds in Seattle and I was lucky to see them multiple times during the day's walk.
 |
| Gadwall |
 |
| Canada Goose |
 |
| Golden-crowned Sparrow |
 |
| Song Sparrow |
I had some birds in my wishlist for this seattle trip and one of the birds was Red-breasted Sapsucker. And I was lucky to see this bird during the start of the trial itself. There were 3 of them chasing each other. They briefly flew to the trees on which there were GBH nests and they flew across the stream. One of the birds flying right across me :-)
Across the stream I saw there were some GBH which had lined on the banks trying to catch their food. And on one of the tree branches I saw a Belted Kingfisher waiting to catch its morning breakfast. It did catch couple of them when i was watching it for a while. There were some Hooded Mergansers in the stream. I saw one male along with 2 females there. This was my second sighting of this bird. My first sighting was at Lake Tawakoni when I saw group of them flying over the lake.
 |
| Red-breasted Sapsucker |
 |
| Belted Kingfisher |
 |
| Hooded Merganser |
On the trail I saw lot of Black-capped Chickadees and heard Wren calls a lot. I only saw Bewick's wren but failed to see any other Wren species. Also American Robins were seen in good numbers during the day's walk. I also saw a lone Northern Flickr working on its nest hole. I also few Anna's Humming bird during the day.
 |
| Northern Flickr |
 |
| American Robin |
 |
| Bewick's Wren |
 |
| Black-capped Chickadee |
 |
| Anna's Hummingbird |
I also saw few Spotted Towhees and Wood Ducks. The first time I saw Wood ducks on the trees :-) always wanted to see that. I also saw few Buffleheads in the lake and there were quite a number of Tree swallows flying around.
 |
| Spotted Towhee |
 |
| Wood Duck |
 |
| Bufflehead |
 |
| Downy/Hairy Woodpecker? |
After birding around the lake, I headed towards the Meadows. On the way I saw my first Rufous Hummingbird. There were few Stellar Jay's flying around. In the meadows they have some nesting boxes for swallows. We could see lot of Tree swallows flying over the meadows and on these nest boxes. I also saw my first Say's pheobe here. Just got a record photograph to confirm if I was right about the bird. I also saw loggerheaded shrike here on the meadows.
 |
| Rufous Hummingbird |
 |
| Tree Swallow |
 |
| Say's Phoebe |
 |
| Common Yellowthroat |
 |
| Loggerheaded Shrike |
 |
| Junco |
The only raptors I saw during the day was a flyover of an Osprey and a Bald eagle.
 |
| Osprey |
 |
| Bald Eagle |
It was a great start to birding in Seattle :-)
ebird : http://ebird.org/ebird/view/
Birds seen during the day.
| 1 | Cackling Goose |
| 2 | Canada Goose |
| 3 | Wood Duck |
| 4 | Gadwall |
| 5 | Mallard |
| 6 | Green-winged Teal |
| 7 | Bufflehead |
| 8 | Hooded Merganser |
| 9 | Great Blue Heron |
| 10 | Osprey |
| 11 | Bald Eagle |
| 12 | American Coot |
| 13 | Anna's Hummingbird |
| 14 | Rufous Hummingbird |
| 15 | Belted Kingfisher |
| 16 | Red-breasted Sapsucker |
| 17 | Downy Woodpecker |
| 18 | Northern Flicker |
| 19 | Say's Phoebe |
| 20 | Loggerhead Shrike |
| 21 | Steller's Jay |
| 22 | American Crow |
| 23 | Tree Swallow |
| 24 | Black-capped Chickadee |
| 25 | Brown Creeper |
| 26 | Bewick's Wren |
| 27 | Hermit Thrush |
| 28 | American Robin |
| 29 | Common Yellowthroat |
| 30 | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| 31 | Dark-eyed Junco |
| 32 | Golden-crowned Sparrow |
| 33 | Savannah Sparrow |
| 34 | Song Sparrow |
| 35 | Spotted Towhee |
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