[EBB Sightings] Friday's Jewel Lake Field Trip

Dear Birders:

Six of us gathered at the parking lot at 8:30 for the regularly-
scheduled monthly field trip to Jewel Lake on a perfect morning.  The
resident birds are proclaiming territory.  We were surrounding by
singing juncos and a Spotted Towhee sang from a nearby thicket. 
Overhead a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks announced their presence in the
persistent way unlike the other mostly silent raptors.  A Winter Wren
made a dash across the path disappearing into a dense tangle of
brambles.  In the willows and creek dogwoods, we saw a number of silent
Varied Thrushes.

When the lake (a big pond, really) came into view, we were delighted
with the number of waterfowl -- brilliant black and white Buffleheads,
a male Ring-necked Duck with several females, and an elegant pair of
Common Mergansers swimming side-by-side and diving in perfect
synchronicity. But the biggest thrill was sighting a bobcat moseying
along in the sun on the far side of the lake.

Though we thought we might see or hear an Orange-crowned Warbler,
usually an early arrival, we settled for an Allen's Hummingbird
performing his swinging display.

Altogether we saw or heard 29 species.

It is always a pleasure visiting Jewel Lake -- a true Walden Pond in
our midst -- where the progression of the seasons is reflected in the
changing color of the lake, in the rising and falling of Wildcat Creek,
and in the ever-changing foliage of the deciduous plants that favor
this riparian corridor.  Now, in early March the red-flowered current
is blooming, the willows are displaying their catkins.  New leaves are
unfolding along the red stems of the creek dogwood.  

Next month instead of open spaces, the vegetation will be lush and
green and the glorious singers of summer -- the Black-headed Grosbeaks,
Swainson's Thrushes, Wilson Warblers, Warbling Vireos and many other
summer residents will fill the canyon with their voices, announcing
each  new day with a memorable dawn chorus. 
 
Phila Rogers


 
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