Townsend’s Mole

On 9 October 2019, Erika and I found a Townsend’s Mole dead on the road. Not wanting to pass up a new species for my blog, I took these photos. Note the almost black dosal fur, the large front, digging feet, and relatively long, naked, white tail. We were in the correct habitat for this spevcies—coniferous forest rather than a meadow or a deciduous woodland. We were hiking along a restricted gravel road in the hills west of Olympia. Traffic is minimal here, so rather than an automobile strike, I think some mammalian or avian predator must have dropped the mole.

Sharp-shinned Hawk

An adult, female Sharp-shinned Hawk is larger than her mate (presumably to keep him in line at the nest). Both are smaller (and do not overlaps in size) than the otherwise similar Cooper’s Hawk. Sharp-shins can be told by their square tip of the tail, their dark cap running down the back of their neck, and their, smaller, more rounded profile head. Both of these hawks are terrors at the bird feeder. Sharp-shins consume birds and a few small mammals. In the fall, they are particularly found of juncos. I sure hope that this individual, banded on 8 October 2019, will not remain in Olympia this winter. The species breeds across Alaska and Canada south through both Eastern and Western mountains. They winter across the United States south through out Mexico to Panama. Sharp-shinned Hawks are also resident across much of South America. 

Varied Thrush

Varied Thrushes have become fairly common in our Olympia backyard during the first week of October. We took this photo on 8 October 2019. The thrushes, and a host of other birds, are attracted to an Evergreen Huckleberry hedge on the east side of our house. These are native plants, Vaccinium ovatum, which are very common along the US west coast. The shrubs grow in secondary forests and woodland edges. Other plants in the genus include Blueberries, Huckleberries, Cranberries, Lingonberries, Whortleberries, Bilberries and Cowberries. .

Pacific Tree Frog

Pacific Tree Frogs range from British Columbia to northern California. We photographed this one at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge on 24 September 2019. They enjoy a wide range of habitats, but are usually found near water. They can change from brown to green (and mosaics between the two colors). Color change is triggered by background brightness. A complete color change may take months, but can begin in a few hours (Wikipedia). 

Caspian Tern

In their account of the Caspian Tern in The Birds of North America, Cuthbert and Wires (1999), aside from bill and prey cleaning, make almost no mention of this species’ bathing. On 2 September 2019, I photographed this Caspian tern as it bathed in western Olympia. The bird splashed water over its feathers in an area where a storm sewer drains fresh water into Puget Sound. The tidal flats are a hangout for various gulls.

Coho Salmon

This salmon’s apparent lack of an adipose fin did not surprise me. I knew that fishery biologists cut off this “fin,” a small bump on the back of salmon and trout that lies along the fish’s back, behind the dorsal fin. This operation assures these biologists that the fish is hatchery-raised. On 29 Septemer 2019, Erika and I found this fish attempting to scale a small waterfall on the Deschutes River just below the Tumwater Fish Hatchery. Earlier I have written that this salmon run is a human-established route for hatchery-raised fish.

Fishery biologists have long argued that this operation does not harm the fish. Recent research, as reported in The Globe and Mail, suggests otherwise. The adipose fin turns out to be a current sensory organ for salmon. Without the adipose fin, fish use 15% more energy to maintain their position and speed in the water. Clearly this energy expenditure comes as an overall detriment to the fish’s survival.

Shadow Darner

Among the Paddle-tailed Darners we found on 30 September 2019 at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, we found this Shadow Darner. Its blue abdomen spots are relatively small and the last segments of the abdomen are dark. Shadow Dragons are, indeed, often found among Paddle-tailed Darners.

Shadow Darners, as their name implies, often lurk in the shade.  Females lay their eggs on logs and twings in the water or on tree trunks or mud banks, even above the water. This species flies later in the day than other darners, feeding in clearings and forest edges. They often fly until dark and, being relatively cold-tolerant, are among the latest flying dragonflies in the fall,.

Two races are described—one from the Rocky Mountains, the other across the Great Plains. Eastern individuals have small abdominal spots with tend to be greenish on the end of the abdomen. The information for this post comes from Paulson (2009).

Paddle-tailed Darner

30 September 2019, a sunny but chilly day at Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, witnessed a large immergence of  Paddle-tailed Darners. Erika and I were able to photograph several that we saw. The species is very common in western North America, and perhaps the most common mosaic darner in the northwest..

These darners are found near ponds and slow streams, and often prefer wetlands near woods, where they often hang from vegetation. Males ofter hover, and then fly into shrubbery, perhaps looking for roosting females. Note their bright, blue-spotted abdomens, un-notched side stripes, and paddle-shaped terminal abdomen appendages (Paulson 2009).

Varied Thrush

On 30 September 2019, I banded a Varied Thrush in our Olympia yard—a first for my banding career. Varied Thrushes breed in montane forests, although previously they bred to sea-level. Logging and other types of habitat disturbances forced the thrushes to hiogher elevations.

Our understanding of Varied Thrush migration is somewhat muddled (Wahl et al. 2005). Some birds make true migrations, while others may only undergo elevational shifts during the winter. In the fall, birds spread out from their dense forest breeding areas into the lowlands, where they are found in a variety of habitats, including urban areas and fields. In the fall, birds begin moving in mid- or late September, especially after early mountain snows. Larger numbers are recorded in November or December. In mid-April and May Varied Thrushes head back to their breeding grounds. They are less common in western Washington in mid-winter. The situation is further confused by the possibility that populations may be cyclical from year to year. In any event, it is worth noting that the Olympic Range and much of the Cascades suffered their first major snowfall of this fall during the past several days.

Green Heron

Although surrounded by walkers, joggers and the homeless, Olympia’s Capitol Lake often yields good birds, like this Green Heron on 15 September 2019. This city lake is about two miles in circumference. The lake connects the Deschutes River and Puget Sound. The lake was created as a reflecting pool in 1951. Water levels are controlled by a dam where lake water enters the Sound.

The lake is becoming clogged by sediment and contaminated with phosphorus. Recently an oil spill and sewage spills have further contaminated the water. Algae and invasive species also inhabit the lake. According to our local newspaper, The Olympian, the state has initiated an environmental impacts study about what to do with the lake. At least four solutions present themselves.

1. Leaving the lake as it is.
2. Managing sediment levels.
3. Taking the dam out and reverting the lake to an estuary.
4. Making a “hybrid version,” including a pedestrian walkway across the lake.

I am not sure which of these alternatives I favor. I suppose a muddy esturary would replace current duck habitat with shorebirds. On the other hand, alternative duck habitats seem few and far between. In either case, a final report is due in 2021.