With rain threatening, 17 people joined us for a morning bird walk at Everett Crowley Park. After an introduction to a little of the history of the park, we did a go-around of introductions, and learned this was a first bird walk for several folks. Heading off into the park, the first birds we encountered right near the start were Black-capped Chickadees. The flock also included some Golden-crowned Kinglets. All the birds were up high in the trees giving our necks a good stretch.

We moved off to the pond to see if a wintering duck or two had joined the resident Mallards there. We had no luck with ducks, except for a few mallards swimming around the pond. Continuing on to the central path, we came across some Song Sparrows, a Brown Creeper and a couple of Spotted Towhees. Continuing north along the central trail we encountered a flock of over 20 Dark-eyed juncos foraging for seeds on the path. A flock of about 20 Snow Geese passed overhead soon after, calling loudly as they are wont to do. Pacific and Bewick’s Wrens called as we walked the trail and some folks got to see the Bewick’s. A Ruby-Crowned Kinglet or two made an appearance, while in the distance we heard American Crows and a Common Raven calling. The crows were apparently not happy about the raven being in their vicinity. We talked about how crows can sometimes alert you to the presence of other wildlife. A noisy group of American Crows may be harassing a raccoon, or a hawk, or an owl, so it is always good to check out what they are on about.

In the same area as the crows, a Downy Woodpecker was spotted working its way up a long tree branch above us. Wrapping up our walk, we were again treated to a group of noisy crows in a little cedar grove. Walking in among the trees we found a Barred Owl who didn’t seem too concerned about the crows, or about us for that matter. Finding the owl demonstrated that our point made earlier about noisy crows was indeed true. It was a great way to finish our walk and a treat for the new birders to get a fairly close look at the nighttime hunter.

Our eBird checklist is here https://ebird.org/checklist/S284681211