A Lovely Morning at the Sewage Plant

[tiggymalvern]

And no, I'm not being facetious XD

Last week, a birdwatcher reported seeing a chestnut-collared longspur pecking around underneath the fence surrounding the lagoons at Hoquiam Sewage Treatment Plant. The next day, as various birders hung around the sewage plant looking for it, one of them spotted a clay-colored sparrow in the thistles on the other side of the fence, about half a mile from the longspur. Over the next few days an orchard oriole, tropical kingbird and palm warbler were added to the Sewage Plant list (one starts to wonder how rare some of these 'rarities' really are, and how many just aren't looked for).

So today was my day for a trip to the sewage plant. The forecast was for overcast with intermittent showers, but instead I found myself driving down there under near cloudless skies, with golden-leaved trees along the roads and over the hillsides, glowing in the angled sunlight . Just gorgeous. All the trees and scrubby undergrowth around the lagoons were in lovely autumn colour. I found the orchard oriole almost immediately, the clay-colored sparrow within an hour, and someone else spotted the longspur that started it all after a couple of hours. I also got to catch up with a few people I hadn't seen in a while (it is one of those quirks of birdwatching that a day trip to the sewage plant results in meeting people you know).

A truly stunning autumn day to be out, plus three life birds in a day - I wasn't expecting that to happen any more in western Washington!

And now I am back, I need to organise for flying to SF tomorrow - eek!

Comments

[tameiki.livejournal.com]

"Eek!" is right. My suitcase is half packed. Teni is fully pissed and has been giving me the baleful stares, glaring at the suitcase then turning her glares to me. I'm amazed at how many expressions she can make. XD

In less than 24 hours I get real Tiggy hugs! *does happy dance*

Who'd a thunk it? A trip to the sewage plant could offer so many different kinds of birds... and people. Is there a secret there that no one knows about that lures these birds to such a place?

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

A big part of the secret is that many of these 'migrant spots' tend to be in heavily urban/suburban areas. So a migrating bird flying over a lot of houses suddenly sees water and greenery and figures it's a good place for a rest stop. The birds really don't seem to care too much about what might be in the water! There are similar places out in eastern Washington, where the water and greenery is surrounded by unappealing scrubby desert.

My suitcase isn't even started, and I need to go through my manga shelves and make a list of the volumes I need....

[tameiki.livejournal.com]

Last year I made a spreadsheet of all the manga I had so I could try to keep from getting duplicates. I got behind on keeping it updated and now it's too late to try to catalog everything. There's just too many that came in this year! Guess I'll just have to pick up only a few that I know for certain I don't have yet and haven't pre-ordered... XD

Did you ever finish reading The Challengers by Takanaga Hinako?

Between checking for the new Bleach torrent I'm going to be busy finishing the packing I can do until first thing tomorrow morning. *bounces*

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Did you ever finish reading The Challengers by Takanaga Hinako?

No, I did not, because I'm so lame I completely forgot I had them :-(

[tameiki.livejournal.com]

Sent you and babaca a text this morning. My original flights have been canceled due to bad weather in Denver. Damned Mother Nature couldn't wait to dump snow on us. She wasn't supposed to until this afternoon.

Now, if I don't get stuck in Denver (my flight out of there is supposed to leave at 6 pm), I'm supposed to arrive at 8 in San Fran. If you can get to the hotel, the room has your names on it so you should be able to check in. Sorry!

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

We're all checked in and missing our Tam happiness! Don't be late :-)

[tameiki.livejournal.com]

"Late" is relative. Since it was a little after midnight when I finally got to the hotel, doesn't that count as "early?" XD

[solo.livejournal.com]

Truly sounds like a good day! :-)

Can I ask, what's a 'life bird'? Is this some secret twitcher slang, or am I just being dense?

[solo.livejournal.com]

Oh. Brain. Is it like a bird you only see once in your lifetime?

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

It's a bird you've never seen before - first in a lifetime, not necessarily the last :-) A life bird can still be very common, if it's an area you've never visited before.

[imre-nico.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I'm in San Fran as we speak. >:.D I was in Brentwood yesterday and it was 90 degrees.

Man, you have to love rare birds that hang out in...rarified places. XD

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

The forecast isn't looking particularly great for my stay, mid-60s and breezy are the predictions. SF has indulged me with mid-70s in late October in the past, I feel cheated of my brief return to summer!

What were you up to in that neck of the woods?

[teaforme.livejournal.com]

That sounds like a lot of fun. I love fall, and enjoy watching birds and other animals. Have a great time in SF!

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I was so pleasantly surprised by the weather, it turned out to be a much better day than I'd expected :-) Though two weeks ago I was standing in the heaving rain on a blustery day looking for a bird I never found, so anything would have been an improvement over that!