this time headed....
directly to the branch of the Chehalis since we hadn't made it there earlier. Lots of Canada geese pretty much finished their molt now.
noticed an assortment of birds in this dead tree....Most of the ones on the top are European Starling. Not a surprise as we've seen them up there before.
there were also a few Brewer's Blackbird, like this male ....identified by it's shiny black plumage and bright yellow eye.
and I'm pretty sure that the top two birds here are Rusty Blackbirds. Although during breeding season they are black like the brewers, they have the 'rust' colouration the rest of the year, these could possibly be young ones...another identifying feature is the pale eyes. Rusty's are uncommon just about everywhere this side of the continent but since I have had one at my feeders once a few years ago, this sighting isn't a 'first' but is definitely 'rare'.
I couldn't even 'guesstimate' what the smaller bird on the bottom left of the group photo was.
further up the river we could see a number of ducks in the distance. Most appeared to be Mallard although one young Pied bill Grebe stuck its head up momentarily before vanishing from sight.
in one spot there were many Cedar Waxwing doing their fly catching routine...also so a few flashes of yellow, warblers of some sort, they didn't stay visible for long.
movement on the muddy bank of the river caught our attention....turned out to be this Song Sparrow....had heard a number of them along the route. Of course the whole trip there were swallows and swifts flying over head catching insects.
quite a few American Robins as well, like this juvenile.
and finally as we started back, this female Common Merganser with her brood of 10, so not the same family we had seen our last trip....led the way.
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