4/18/12

Location: Union Bay Natural Area

Coordinates: (47.65128707885742, -122.31150817871094)

Weather: I went to the Union Bay Natural Area after 6pm on Wednesday. It was cold and windy. It was about 50 degrees F. The weather was overcast, cloudy, and basically a normal Seattle day.

Habitat: The habitat is a wetlands with a lot of grassy meadows, cattails, horsetails, and deciduous trees. There were many stagnant ponds with ducks and coots swimming around in them. At the edge of the natural area was the bank to Union Bay. From this point, I could see a wider variety of water birds like seagulls, cormorants, and buffleheads. The cattails around the ponds and lake bed were home to red-winged blackbirds. The birds would perch on the tops of the cattails and call to the females. Small sparrows also jumped around the trail and pecked at the ground. Other hummingbirds could also be seen buzzing around floral trees.

Vegetation: The dominant plantlife were cattails, grasses, and horsetails. there were a lot more marshy plants than large trees. The dominant trees were deciduous. Many were small and floral by the lake beds. Other trees were larger and further from the lake bed. In the grassy meadows was an abundance of dry, brown queen anne's lace.

General Comments: I had been to the Union Bay Natural Area before with the class when we did the sketching exercises. I really liked it so I came back a few times to get pictures and try to see new birds. When I came back, I saw new birds like more Great Blue Herons, Canada Geese, Shovelers, Buffleheads, Coots, and Double-crested Cormorants. Seeing these birds made me more enthusiastic about bird watching and taking pictures. I was really happy to just observe them and watch them do what they do everyday. I saw the cormorants just sitting on a little island in the bay close to land. At first I wondered why they just sat there. Then I learned that they had to dry their wings in order to fly because they can't fly with wet wings after they dive. I also saw the Great Blue Herons fishing for small fish. I saw Canada Geese flying in pairs and I saw Buffleheads and coots for the first time ever. Diving birds are a rare and new sight for me.

Species List: Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius)
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis)
American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)
Common cattail (Typha latifolia)
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)
Red-winged Black Bird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
Black-capped Chickadee (Parus atricapillus)
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota)
American Coot (Fulica americana)
American Wigeon (Anas americana)

Publicado el 01 de mayo de 2012 a las 08:04 AM por velizo