[EBB Sightings] this morning at Jewel lake

Dear Birders:

If what we were hoping for this morning at Jewel Lake was a splendid finale to the season of bird song, we were richly rewarded.? Even before starting the climb uphill on the Pack Rat trail we could hear the lush song of the Black-headed Grosbeak and the sweet ascending refrain of a Swainson's Thrush.? Along the trail, thrush song rose up towards us, cascaded down over us -- coming from all directions, it seemed.? We even had a close encounter when the singer performed, hidden a few feet in front of us.? But as we drew abreast, the thrush slipped away still unseen.     

Less than a month ago, the Swainson's Thrush revealed its presence only by a single call note.? But now in early June, it's in full song and will continue to sing each day until the last light when other birds have gone silent.? Though slow to start its season of song, the Swainson's Thrush will still be singing well into July.

We enjoyed Wilson's Warblers zipping through the trees.  Near the lake's edge we saw a pair drop into the thick vegetation almost at our feet suggesting a nest or maybe hidden fledglings.? We also saw a pair of Orange-crowned Warblers who both sang and gave us good views.? Species seemed to come in twos this morning -- two vireos (singing Hutton's and Warbling), two woodpeckers (the diminutive Downy and a noisy Nuttall's), two towhees, and sweeping across the lake -- two species of swallows, Violet-green(?) and a Barn Swallow.? Nothing completes the composition of a tranquil, green lake more than the graceful glissades of swallows.

Now for the long summer, and then we will gather again at Jewel Lake to see what the fall season brings.

A few plant notes -- a pink-flowered native honeysuckle drapped over the low branches of an oak and thimbleberries ripening.

-Phila Rogers