Last week's surprise snowstorm gave way to rainy, warm, weather. A week after the snowstorm we had 54 degree F with misty fog, as in the photo above. Water levels on the Preserve came up to flood the riverside trails, and make half the Preserve inaccessible by midweek.
High water meant we couldn't reach some of the woods, so reported species variety is down this week. The RED-SHOULDERED HAWK, SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, ANNA'S HUMMINGBIRDS, and WHITE-THROATED SPARROW remain. A pair of HOODED MERGANSERS has been using the renewed Kingfisher Marsh, right off the back deck of the Education Center. More LESSER SCAUP and RING-NECKED DUCKS have moved into our now deeper ponds and wetlands.
Stefan Schlick reported a TRUMPETER SWAN across the highway to the west on Thursday. Now that the farm fields there have flooded, a couple hundred TUNDRA SWANS have been using it, as has over 100 CANVASBACK. That land is slated to add water treatment facilities in the future. It will feed into some new wetlands to be created behind the Clean Water Services building next door to the Jackson Bottom Wetlands Education Center.
This week's birds:
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
American Coot
California Gull
Glaucous-winged Gull
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Western Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Bushtit
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Robin
European Starling
Spotted Towhee
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Red-winged Blackbird
House Finch
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch