Woodpeckers

A pair of woodpeckers flew in to drink. They both took turns at the
watering hole. Both took long drinks dipping his head into the water
and throwing it back to swallow . The woodpeckers have been flying
in about the same time 3:30-4:00pm for the past two days.

ID MARKS: overall grey/black with red/orange breast.
They have grey/black crown peaks like a Pileated woodpecker and each
have white undertail coverts.

Swallows

TWEET from Bellingham indicated that they may be at staging areas and not yet headed for a buggier climate. A TWEET canoeing down Black River in Thurston County indicated that the swallows were missing in his count for that trip. Olympia area TWEETs are also indicating swallow numbers are down.

Swallows

Have not seen any swallows for the past few days. Normally, they are flying all over above or at the level of the tree tops here. Posted to Tweeters. Typo: What? should be Where have all of the swallows gone in Thurston County

From Tweet:
http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/TWET.html#1248149704
Black River, Thurston County - did not see any swallows. Previously noted in the area of Black River (canoeing) in 2002.

Woodpecker and Junco’s and Loitering

Woodpecker flew up into a tree yesterday. I’m not sure what kind he was, but did appear to have a red tinged triangle at his head and black and white wing tips on…

The Junco’s are back after a brief haitus and are just tearing up the feeder and playing in the trees, lately.

The hummingbird feeders have been refilled and washed. One more feeder was added to the backyard, in addition to one vertical regular feeder.

The bird bath was empty two days ago, washed and refilled in time for the Junco’s to play. Last night near the bath, a bird was chirping an alert - sure enough there is a stray cat. He exited as soon as he saw me, and then another cat appeared… he soon exited but no quite fast enough for me. He was loitering around me newly planted rose bush. Likely, looking for a fresh place to squat.

eBird

Observation type: Casual Observation
Observation date: 7/9/09 Distance covered: N/A
Start time: 5:55 PM Area covered: 1.0 acre(s)
Duration: 1 hour(s) 0 minute(s) Elevation: N/A
Number of people in party: 1
Comments: This is the second day in a row that the Pileated woodpecker showed up and my first Anna’s hummbingbird for the summer.
Species

Are you submitting a complete checklist of the birds you saw/heard? No

1 Anna’s Hummingbird
1 Pileated Woodpecker
2 Steller’s Jay
4 American/Northwestern Crow
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon)

South Sound Prairies

South Sound Prairies hosts a number of documents about wildlife, native plants, and endangered/threatened species.

Water

The oak seedlings have been watered several times this week as the soil is really dry. There are new shoots forming at both seedling heads and each share a dead leaf.

The volunteer oak that did not get its roots established in a planter, has a brighter green leaf without as many leaf hairs as the oak that rooted in a planter.

Junco’s have been to the West side of my main viewing area, lately. And orange hummers are traveling through the green belt. I have seen two butterflies. One yellow and black, and one white and black with red at its wing tips. There are many white moths. Bees are enjoying the last drops of water in the birdbath. I’ve had to refill it twice in two weeks as it has all dried out in the heat. I’ve added rocks and branches to the bird bath as its bottom was rather slick and likely too deep for the birds.