I know that the Arcata Marsh is famous around here for its birds, and I did see lots of cool feathered creatures when I visited there on Wednesday morning. But I was extraordinarily happy when I came across two of these mammals hunting in a lake:
River Otters! The first ones I've ever seen in the wild I think! Ahhh, so cool. They kept diving underwater, showing their thick pointed tails:
Then they'd come back up chewing on what I'm guessing were little fish:
Oh my goodness. Now I can add otters to the list of crazy and amazing things I can see just minutes from my house. Northern California just gets more and more magical.
Here's a video of the two otters doing their thing. I love their little chomping jaws whenever they come up with food:
OK, yes, there were lots of other things to see at the marsh while I was there. When I arrived, the tide was out, and Arcata Bay was one giant mudflat:
A couple of hours later, the same spot looked like a different place:
The shorebirds are starting to show up in big numbers here on their southward migration (yes, it's that time already). Here's part of a mixed group of bigger shorebirds, mostly Marbled Godwits in this picture:
Hundreds of little sandpipers were in attendance at this marsh as well, although only a few came anywhere near my camera. Here's my first Western Sandpiper, with its pale gray-brown back and dark legs:
Of course this Least Sandpiper a few yards away looks completely different:
... Right. My best bet for distinguishing between these two birds is going to be leg color (dark vs. yellow) for a while yet.
A bunch of Willets were hanging around:
And a fancy Long-billed Curlew was pulling some sort of food from the marsh mud:
I continue to be thrilled to have Song Sparrows around (after these birds were such a friendly fixture in our old Connecticut yard they became my favorite sparrows for sure), and I met tons of these guys in the fields near the marsh. Hello handsome bird:
This Song Sparrow was foraging and preening as normal despite not having any tail feathers:
A family of Mallards was making funny shapes in a pond:
I saw quite a few of these pretty Anise Swallowtails (Papilio zelicaon), looking a bit like half-sized Tiger Swallowtails:
The Arcata Marsh is one of the public nature places closest to my house, and I'm more than happy to take advantage of its nearness. It really is a lovely place:
I saw my first Monarch butterfly of the year yesterday morning on the beach at Silver Sands State Park. And I do mean on the beach. I would've expected to see this creature on the milkweed plants that were blooming just a little ways away, but instead it was sucking up what must have been some good nutrients in the damp sand:
I'm always glad to see a Monarch, especially since this species' numbers have been declining steeply in recent years. And what a treat to see such vivid color on the beach (and from something other than washed-up garbage):
The clouds over the Long Island Sound were super dramatic pretty much all morning, with so many different layers and shapes and shades happening at once:
My iPhone's panoramic mode was able to capture some of the epic-ness of this scenery, and I think the result looks pretty cool (even if it's still not quite the same as being there, and the beach comes out all weird and curvy):
Two Willets were hanging around in the marsh (maybe working on a nest?). These medium-sized shorebirds are quite attractive with all their subtly barred feathers:
But their most distinctive features are their dramatic black-and-white wings. It's so cool to see these guys fly through the marsh:
A mother Mallard was shepherding her sizable brood of teenaged babies at the shore:
That duckling on the left looks smaller than all the others.... I wonder if it could've somehow joined this group from another clutch? Hmm.
Immature Herring Gulls were all over the beach. They're not the most handsome birds with their mottled plain-brown costumes, but they do cut some very impressive figures in flight:
Among all the handsome birds we have around here, not many do it better than Cedar Waxwings. These guys are just beyond sleek:
I don't actually know what's going on in this next picture, but what a pose! Cedar Waxwing, you are just cool:
(The pose in this picture actually reminds me of the time I saw a Northern Mockingbird spitting out seeds. Maybe that's what's going on here, or maybe the waxwing is just being extra punky and/or action-hero-ish. Either way works for me!)
I couldn't find the Piping Plover pair that's been hanging out at Silver Sands State Park when I visited yesterday morning. They may have decided to nest somewhere else, or perhaps they were just particularly well hidden.... I'll continue to keep an eye out for these little birds on future visits. Even without nesting plovers, however -- and despite the occasional drizzle -- there were tons of cool things to see. The park was positively overflowing with activity!
One of the first creatures I saw when I first arrived was also one of the most exciting, because I've only seen them once before, and never before a male in his super strange breeding plumage. Look, a Bobolink!
Make that a whole bush full of male Bobolinks, with their black bellies and yellow caps:
When these birds weren't perched in bushes and singing their weird metallic bubbling songs, they were foraging in the grass. The dandelion heads were apparently particularly interesting:
Bobolinks are pretty uncommon in this part of Connecticut, so I consider this a lucky encounter indeed!
In the marsh, two Willets (large-ish shorebirds with distinctive black and white wings) were preening:
This happy Willet made some cool ripples as it bathed:
Also wandering through the marsh were several Semipalmated Plovers. These birds are small like Piping Plovers but they have brown backs and wings like Killdeer; and, like all plovers, they're adorable:
I've commented many times in this blog on the secretiveness of Clapper Rails, who I often hear calling in these marshes but who typically remain hidden among the grass. The more I visit Silver Sands State Park, however, the more these birds defy my expectations. I've seen them several times now in July and August, after their chicks have hatched. A couple of weeks ago, I actually saw one calling from a slight rise in the marsh landscape. And then yesterday, who should come walking out onto the open mudflats, bold as can be, but a Clapper Rail:
The bird spotted me, but it only ambled (rather than raced) toward cover in the grass, walking right by me in the process. In fact, it seemed to strut and pose as it passed.... Well, sure Mr./Mrs. Rail, I'll gladly take your picture. What a gorgeous bird!
Rail tail!
Clapper Rails have such unusual body shapes. I'm struck by how skinny/compressed this bird looks from behind. It's thin as a... haaaang on.
I've now looked up the phrase "thin as a rail" to try to find out where it comes from. Several online sources say that no, "rail" in this phrase doesn't refer to a man-made bar or post (as I've always assumed), but rather to the bird, which is quite thin and thus better able to move through marsh grass. But then a few other sources say that in fact, no, you had it right the first time: It's not the bird, as some people have recently suggested, but rather the man-made object! So basically, if I say that the Clapper Rail is "thin as a rail," I still have no idea whether I'm being clever, or redundant, or silly. Ah well. Regardless, I'll think of this bird now whenever I hear that phrase.
A second Clapper Rail was even camped out nearby, again in plain view, and the two birds cackled at each other when the first one got close:
Are these birds not actually as secretive as I thought? I'm not complaining! Be as bold as you like, Clapper Rails.
On the beach, a trio of Common Terns were chasing each other across the sky, one of the terns carrying a fish (perhaps for courtship purposes):
There have been so many male Red-winged Blackbirds in this park in recent weeks, it's nice to see the females showing up as well:
Yellow Warblers nest in this park's fields, and a few males were fluttering around and calling during my visit:
These bright little birds make quite a sight, even from a distance:
And this is why people (in North America) don't like European Starlings. I checked on the nesting cavity that the Northern Flickers worked so hard to excavate over the past few weeks, only to find a starling sticking its head out of the hole:
I know it's not the starlings' fault that they're on this continent, and it takes a feisty bird to chase off a powerful Northern Flicker, but... starlings have so many nesting options. Couldn't they have left this cavity to the flickers? Yes, you're very fancy with your spiky throat and triangle wings, but I'm not impressed. Eh, starlings:
In more overall positive nesting happenings, I was happy to see this cool structure hanging from a tree branch:
A Baltimore Oriole nest! The male oriole was singing nearby and keeping another male from his territory, while the female oriole was busy using her excellent weaving skills:
This is such an amazing structure, and I'm curious about the material she's using. Some sort of plant fiber perhaps? Here's a video of the female at work:
Here are a couple more happy sights to close out my visit. This patch of Lance-leaved Violets (Viola lanceolata) made a small field of stars shooting up from the muddy ground:
And I loved seeing this Savannah Sparrow perched near the ground, its yellow eyeshadow so perfectly matching the blooming dandelions:
There are so many amazing things to see right now!
