Trip report by Neill Vanhinsberg; Photos by Richard L

Nine birders joined Kelvin and Neill at ƛ̓éxətəm Regional Park on a beautiful Sunday morning. For two folks it was their first bird walk and one intrepid birder drove in from Washington! After introductions we headed off through the community gardens area getting great looks at Tree Swallows on their houses while a White-crowned Sparrow or two serenaded us. One of the best things about leading beginner bird walks is the exclamation of someone getting their first great look at a bird, in this case through a spotting scope. Several folks had this experience with the Tree Swallows and the White-crowned Sparrow in the gardens.

As we moved along the edge of the gardens, we heard American Goldfinches and Common Yellowthroats singing and eventually got views of the birds. We exited the gardens and Kelvin spotted a Yellow-rumped Warbler which foraged for bugs in a tree in front of us for several minutes. We continued on and watched a circling immature Cooper’s Hawk followed by an adult Red-tailed Hawk harassed by crows, giving us a nice comparison of the two hawks.

After crossing the bridge and getting another look at a Common Yellowthroat, we came across a female Mallard and her 9 ducklings in the slough on the east side of the river. At the intersection of the trail to the duck pond, the resident mink was briefly glimpsed in the slough. Two Gadwalls, a Bufflehead and a Hooded Merganser were spotted in the slough by the outflow to the river. At the duck pond most folks were able to see Violet-green Swallows and Northern Rough-winged Swallows flying around hunting insects while Red-winged Blackbirds called in the background.

On our walk back, Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneyes were seen diving in the river. An Osprey was spotted harassing a Bald Eagle. As we continued, another Bald Eagle and a Red-tailed Hawk were seen circling in the same thermal, nicely showing the size difference between the two raptors. The final bird of our walk was a male Wood Duck showing nicely in the slough near the parking lot. A great day of birds, a beautiful day, and a great group, all made for a memorable walk.