Post by nickinthegarden on Jun 4, 2020 20:12:14 GMT -8
My yearly trip to the Kane Valley this year was little later than previous years and it certainly showed in the type of bird activity I saw. Travelling in from the west side was a lot quieter than I have seen it before. Lots of Tree Swallows still trying to find a mate but no sign of any Red-naped Sapsuckers or Williamson's Sapsucker or any other Woodpeckers except Northern Flickers. Logging crews have been in there removing the dead pine trees from the area, they are big trucks and you really need to pull over to clear the road and they make lots of dust.
I saw several Mountain Bluebirds and few Western Meadowlarks and a couple Eastern Kingbirds.
Western Meadowlark by Nick, on Flickr
Eastern Kingbird by Nick, on Flickr
I could faintly hear Grouse drumming in the distance and occasionally hear some very odd bird songs that I cannot ID at all, it kind of sounded like a "whirling sound" for lack of a better description. I know I missed many birds but with amount of big truck traffic and the dust I was much more careful where I stopped. The lakes had many Canada Geese with their young; one flock of six parents had about 30 goslings. A number of Ring-necked duck were at Englishmen Lake and several Lesser Scaup, none of them had babies yet. A single Killdeer and a couple Spotted Sandpipers were seen. It was odd to see the Spotted Sandpiper feeding around a dirty mud puddle when there was a nice clean lake a dozen feet away.
I saw only one Yellow-rumped Warbler but I saw three Yellow Warblers, two I know were males and possibly the third was female as they were all actively chasing each other. The Marsh Wren were very vocal and there were lots of them around some of the lakes.
Marsh Wren by Nick, on Flickr
A number of Chipmunks made suicidal runs across the road in front of me, all survived. I even saw one Marmot which was a bit of a surprise I expect them in more mountainous areas. The biggest surprise was on the way back just before I hit the pavement again as I came around a corner I saw a Moose. Fortunately I was going quite slow and nobody got hurt but it was the first Moose I have seen since I started taking photos. After I stopped it checked me over and then headed up the road to an area where it could climb back up the hillside.
My first Moose by Nick, on Flickr
I saw several Mountain Bluebirds and few Western Meadowlarks and a couple Eastern Kingbirds.
Western Meadowlark by Nick, on Flickr
Eastern Kingbird by Nick, on Flickr
I could faintly hear Grouse drumming in the distance and occasionally hear some very odd bird songs that I cannot ID at all, it kind of sounded like a "whirling sound" for lack of a better description. I know I missed many birds but with amount of big truck traffic and the dust I was much more careful where I stopped. The lakes had many Canada Geese with their young; one flock of six parents had about 30 goslings. A number of Ring-necked duck were at Englishmen Lake and several Lesser Scaup, none of them had babies yet. A single Killdeer and a couple Spotted Sandpipers were seen. It was odd to see the Spotted Sandpiper feeding around a dirty mud puddle when there was a nice clean lake a dozen feet away.
I saw only one Yellow-rumped Warbler but I saw three Yellow Warblers, two I know were males and possibly the third was female as they were all actively chasing each other. The Marsh Wren were very vocal and there were lots of them around some of the lakes.
Marsh Wren by Nick, on Flickr
A number of Chipmunks made suicidal runs across the road in front of me, all survived. I even saw one Marmot which was a bit of a surprise I expect them in more mountainous areas. The biggest surprise was on the way back just before I hit the pavement again as I came around a corner I saw a Moose. Fortunately I was going quite slow and nobody got hurt but it was the first Moose I have seen since I started taking photos. After I stopped it checked me over and then headed up the road to an area where it could climb back up the hillside.
My first Moose by Nick, on Flickr