Work in the ornithological field.

Yesterday morning, even though it was raining, I stopped by Capitol Lake in front of the WA state house to try to catch a TUNDRA SWAN that a birder had posted from the day earlier. I had no luck, but did see a good number of ducks on the lake, mostly being BUFFLEHEAD.


When I got back to the house, Devin and I began working on making bird nesting boxes. A friend of Devin's applied and was awarded a grant to create 30 bird boxes for DOWNY WOODPECKER, HAIRY WOODPECKER, and NORTHERN FLICKER. The grant pays for 90% of the work, the landowner the other 10%. Apparently the grant pays about $40 per box.


The whole nest box is made from one plank, which I cut up in the backyard yesterday afternoon. During which, Devin was putting one together, and getting all the smaller pieces cut.

This morning, I headed to the Cannon Trail in town, where I could get some good views of the Puget Sound. I saw a good diversity of birds, including good looks at the very common GLAUCOUS-WINGED GULL, which I had been unable to fully identify until today. After, I went to try Capitol Lake again. No TUNDRA SWAN, but there were even more of a diversity of ducks. BUFFLEHEAD, CANVASBACK, unidentifiable SCAUP, and REDHEAD were the most apparent.


When I got back, Devin and I started working again. I put together the smaller, DOWNY and HAIRY WOODPECKER boxes, which we needed 10 of, and got some of the 20 of the larger NORTHERN FLICKER boxes that we need.