Whitaker Ponds Nature Park
One of my favorite parks is Whitaker Ponds Nature Park. Ever since my first time there I knew it was a special place. It’s a small (but productive) park at 24 acres with a 1/2-mile flat loop trail. Completely surrounded by urban land, it is a mini-oasis for birds. And for myself. Here I saw my first Common Merganser, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Goldeneye,…
An excellent week of birds
It started when I left work early one day to find a rare Snowy Egret in the Vancouver Lake Lowlands that was associating with a Great Egret and Mallard decoy. Also present were Greater Yellowlegs, a couple of hardy Tree and Barn Swallows, and Purple Finch, a year bird I was happy to see lower…
New Year’s birding
January 1st 2018 started with a nice sunrise and a Song Sparrow scratching leaves in our garden in the dark as I peeked my head outside the door. I didn’t mean to bird as hard as I did on day 1, but first of year birding is too exciting. Every bird is new, every one a…