A Lovely Morning at the Sewage Plant
Oct. 27th, 2009 03:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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!
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!
