I skipped (most of) the work day today. I didn’t want to stare at a computer screen for hours, there was nothing urgent I couldn’t take care of later, and most importantly, it’s been beautiful and sunny all day here in Seattle. I ended up going to both Discovery Park and Magnuson Park.

Shortly after I arrived in Discovery Park I stopped to look at a rather loud song sparrow and noticed movement on the tree trunk. At first I thought (by the size) that it might be a downy woodpecker, but no; instead, I’d found a reclusive brown creeper, the first time I’ve ever seen one!

Brown Creeper

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As usual, the weather forecast for Seattle wasn’t quite right. Today, though, it was much more pessimistic than needed: it’s been above 50°F all morning, and only partly cloudy since about 9:15 am this morning.

A perfect morning for some birding in Discovery Park! Very few people around, fewer than you’d expect for a morning like this, but I suppose a lot of people trusted the weather forecast a bit too much, because even the Ballard Farmers’ Market wasn’t nearly as crowded as it usually is on such beautiful days. I took 380 photos in about an hour and a half, mostly due to burst-fire. As you’ll see, most of the birds I found this morning were busy bathing and preening, so burst-fire mode is very useful for catching interesting (and sudden) behavior.

When I arrived it was still overcast, so the lighting wasn’t great. I quickly found an Anna’s hummingbird, though I couldn’t get close enough to get a shot, and saw a red-tailed hawk from a distance flying out of the park. But then, a fun bird to find (and rather shy): a red-breasted sapsucker. Quite a few robins, starlings, and even a Stellar’s jay were in the tree as well. Though I located it by the sounds of its tapping, it soon started to scratch its face on a branch and then begin preening:

Red-breasted Sapsucker

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