This proud dignitary appears along the sidelines
during every home game.
The cool, coastal fog of Washington lifts on a fall
morning, revealing a monumental natural drama.
Most now bypass Puget Sound and other West Coast
estuaries, and migrate directly to Mexico. Polynesian navigators often carried with
them frigatebirds, which they released and followed to land. By August, many of our
birds have left the nest behind. By August, many of our birds have left the nest
behind.
The Greater Roadrunner is a common species in the
desert and brush country of the Southwest, but its full range reaches from
California to western Louisiana.
The calls of resident Black-billed Magpies resound
on an early September morning. Puget Sound is one of the most fertile saltwater
habitats in the world, and every winter, waterfowl migrate from afar to feast on its
bounty.
And how about its name? Among the most evocative
sounds of early autumn are the voices of migratory geese, flying overhead in
V-formation.
Under this pummeling, a smorgasbord of shrimp is
stirred up for the gulls to harvest. Are the robins you see now the same robins that
you saw in your garden last summer?
A second theory asserts that dipping helps the bird
spot prey beneath the surface of the water. Natural disasters sometimes take a
terrible toll on birds and other wildlife.
Western Tanagers are distinctive summer visitors to
our area and the only tanagers seen regularly in Washington.
Others only winter here, having nested farther
north. In the golden sunlight of an October morning, a Golden-crowned Sparrow sings
plaintively from a hedgerow, and soon a Fox Sparrow chimes in.
How did this lovely jewel get its
name?
They eat the mice, rats, and gophers that nibble on
the roots of young grapevines.
Since January, BirdNote has followed the lives of a
family of Great Horned Owls, keeping a watchful eye on their nest in a tall
cottonwood. Right now a flock of Bar-headed Geese could be flying over
Mt.
Moving north together during a few weeks in spring,
they reached their Arctic breeding grounds in time to quickly pair up and nest,
making the most of the short northern season.
Among the most evocative sounds of early autumn are
the voices of migratory geese, flying overhead in V-formation.
A bird in the hand, my friend. Only a few weeks
after young Bald Eagles fledge from their nests, the parents leave the area as well.
Putting out a feeder is easy.