It's been a month.....

It has been over a month since I've done a report.  We've spent three weeks away at various favorite birding spots and then an early record breaking heat wave discouraged going for walks.....but today, being cooler, we made it over to Harrison Bay to see what a months change looked like.

First thing to point out is the water level.  Higher than we would have expected given the low snow pack, at least locally.  Water normally peaks at this time in June, so this is probably it.

The other notable thing is how dry the vegetation is already.  The green field has been irrigated, the brown grass is on the outside of the fence and has already turned brown.

Nice to see the Salmon Berries ripe and juicy....Robin's love these...

and I'm always promoting the values of this native tree, the Cascara...notice the berries...they aren't ripe yet, when they are they will disappear fast - so many birds love them.

So speaking of birds.....saw this Spotted Towhee.....

and I think that is a fledgling one....

We saw lots of....

White-crowned Sparrows....all adults but most had mouthfuls of feed so I think there were a lot of babies hidden down in the grasses.

There were a lot of Swallows of various types flying over the hay fields....Tree Swallows, Barn Swallows, and like this one, Violet Green Swallows.

There was a Great Blue Heron hiding down in a slough....lots of Spotted Sandpiper around too but none staying still long enough for a picture.

Some wildflowers too....

like these Oxeye Daisies....

and this Chicory....

and these cute little flowers, obviously members of the Morning Glory family...hopefully not a horrible invasive weed!  Will have to do some research on them.

If the winds we've had the last few days die down we'll try and get out on the water because I hear our Purple Martin colony is back and active.