In case you haven't heard, spring is the season for babies.
Here at Peterson Bay Field Station, a pair of bald eagles is accomplishing an incredible feat: they are raising triplets!
The broken crown of a seaside spruce makes an ideal platform.
I'm taking photos every day to mark their progress. To the eagle experts out there: any idea how old these chicks might be?
On the Lost and Found Lake Loop Trail, which winds through a mile-and-a-half of Lutz spruce forest, I found the sign of an American robin's reproduction: the cracked shells of two sky-blue eggs.
Cracked sky.
Shell fragments.
A proud mom or a heartbroken orphaner?
I don't know if the eggs hatched or were pilfered by raven or raccoon.
On my day off here in Homer, I circumnavigated Beluga Slough through questionable tides, estuarine mud, and private property.
Kenai Mountains in the background.
Kachemak Bay on the horizon.
I ducked behind the tree line to read a chapter of Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac on somebody's hand-hewn log bench. Seven northern shovelers flew in as soon as I was out of sight.
Pendulous bills make for good shoveling.
I've never seen such an enormous hoof print. Moose were probably watching me follow their trail.
Further along, I discovered septuplet ducklets. Their species eluded me at first. Mallards have orange bills; green-winged teal have dark faces; gadwalls aren't common here.
What nice eyeliner you have. I always go for down-turned wings, too.
Is that a peek of blue speculum I spy?
But with enough patience and photographs, I got a look at her blue speculum, and I believe she is simply a dark-billed mallard mama.
Ahh, blue indeed!
On my walk home, I got a much closer view of a mother mallard with only two ducklings. She had a dark bill and a brilliant blue speculum, confirming my identification.
And her duckling took an adorable bath while practicing her dabbling! I wonder how even their down is waterproof?
A baby duck is a duckling (or ducklet, with poetic license). A baby eagle's an eaglet. What do you call a baby crane? Take a gander. (No, a gander is a male goose!)
I'll give you this one. A baby crane is called a colt!
Watching them gambol through the grass makes clear the resemblance between filly and fowl. I couldn't get too close to the pair of colts this morning, but you can see their yellow fluff nudging mom or dad for food.
In my absence this past year, my mom has taken up two hobbies with a vengeance: singing in a barbershop choir and watching birds.
I am hopelessly tone deaf, so when I got home I couldn't join my mom's singing. But birding! Now that's something I can get behind!
My fearless birding captain and me.
Here are some photos I took during four awesome birding jaunts with my mom in the month of June.
(And remember, you can always click on a photo to launch a high-definition slideshow!)
Juanita Bay Park
Kirkland, Washington
Cedar waxwing.
Crows mobbing a red-tailed hawk.
A female red-winged blackbird.
A juvenile red-winged blackbird.
Wood duck.
Pollination!
American robin.
How many (Western painted) turtles can you count?
This bald eagle is just begging to be memed.
Don't feed the rainbow wildlife.
Mama wood duck and ducklings! How many can you count?
Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
Olympia, Washington
This savannah sparrow nestled in wildflowers reminded me of an Easter basket.
Cinnamon teal.
Interesting footprints! I'm thinking they were trod by a raccoon.
A grazing black-tailed deer doe.
Bad hair day?
Ah, that's better. This female hooded merganser just needed a good blow-dry.
Montlake Fill
Seattle, Washington
Anna's hummingbird.
A hummingbird nest with two sword-billed chicks! The inside of the nest was about the size of a penny.
A red-winged blackbird stares into the distance.
A song sparrow sips from a pond.
"Bottoms up! Time to dabble!" says Mr. Mallard.
A marsh wren gives a free concert.
Upper Skagit
Corkindale Creek and other sites in Skagit County, Washington
Our first bird: a western scrub jay! These guys are NOT supposed to be this far north.
A rufous hummingbird positively glows in the sunshine.
Work those wings, little hummer!
Coyote scat full of blackberry seeds.
A lazuli bunting in the maple tree! This bird was startlingly blue.
A whole family of ruffed grouse went flying when we stepped into the meadow!
A willow flycatcher? Gotta ask the expert for this one...
A singing spotted towhee. Maybe he's singing a little barbershop for my mom!
Springtime
If ducklings, wildflowers, and bumblebees weren't enough to convince you it's springtime... just look at these gorgeous fiddleheads.
Spending a year on the equator was amazing, but there are some things the tropics just can't provide. I'm glad to be back in my temperate Seattle where I can watch the seasons come and go with people I love!
