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Saturday evening (9-1-18) at the marsh near sunset.
This summer a few great herons have been hanging out in the trees by the walkway between the #2 and #3 viewing platforms. It is the first time I have seen this behavior. I wonder if they will try to establish a rookery here next spring to replace the one that used to be at the southeast corner of the marsh.
The juvie Cooper's hawk continues to hunt in the marsh. It uses man made structures to scout the area for prey.
Labor Day weekend is when I start looking for our winter avian residents to arrive. I caught groups of cormorants flying in different directions off Sunset Ave.
A small group of bushtits was at the marsh. I was lucky to get a photo of one.
The weather is turning autumn-like and ducks have been flying south over Puget Sound.
Many are landing at the marsh during the evening's high tide, such as Monday night (9-10-18).
So far I have only seen mallards, but the winter visitors will be arriving soon.
Some of the males have been molting and are very raggedy looking.
Others still look like real male mallards.
Canada geese are enjoying the high water as well. This may be the local flock that resides in Edmonds year round.
The attractive Herrmann's gulls will start migrating south in October.
September is the time to look for parasitic jaegers around the dive park in Edmonds. I thought I saw one Monday (9-10-18) afternoon, but it just turned out to be a gull chasing a Herrmann's gull.
I have been surprised to see osprey and Caspian terns still in the area. These birds spend winter in sunnier and warmer climes. Wednesday afternoon (9-26-18) I caught one of the adults from the Edmonds School District bus barn nest diving for fish at Sprague Pond in Lynnwood.
A northern flicker on one of two "habitat" trees in my back yard.
A black-capped chickadee at the marsh.
A few Caspian tern are still in the area. This one was hunting for fish off Sunset Ave.
I ran into a friend who was birding Pine Ridge Park while I was there. We saw several male wood ducks at the large pond, but no females. Close up of a male in the shade.
We got a quick glimpse of this bird and I got a grab shot. He subsequently ID-ed it as a Swainson's thrush from my photo.
Sunday (9-30-18) a female pileated woodpecker was pounding away at one of the habitat trees in my backyard. It probably came from Pine Ridge Park, which is at the end of our court.
It closed its eyes to avoid large flying chunks of wood.
It is easy to overlook the great blue herons as they are year round inhabitants of the marsh, marina, and beaches along the Edmonds waterfront. Tuesday afternoon (10-2-18) I took a series of photos of one landing at the marsh, which had become Lake Edmonds due to a very high tide.
Thursday afternoon (10-4-18) I ran into a local birder at the marsh who spotted a raptor fly up to a tree on the far side of the marsh. A closer examination with her spotting scope showed it to be a member of the falcon family.
We later concluded it was a merlin based on its size and behavior. It exhibited the behavior of merlins I have photographed in the past hunting dragonflies in the marsh. The merlin will alternate perching on a high spot with making low, swift swoops over the cattails.
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