End of Summer

Well, summer has finally ended. This week saw the first day in over 4 months where the high temp didn't get over 60 degrees F. It seems it was barely a week or so ago when I was overdressed and overly warm, and now I'm wearing a jacket (or 2 when it rains) and a scarf. The sky is heavy overcast and threatening rain, though so far not much has fallen. Managed to get caught in the downpour on Tuesday afternoon, rain jacket worked great, but pants were soaked, managed to get inside before the thunderstorm started.

Saw flocks of cedar waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) hovering in the air and flittering in between evergreens and trees with berries. There appeared to be a fair number of juveniles in the mix and they were difficult to get a good look at. Definitely had the yellow, waxy mark on the tail feathers, the eye mask and the tuft on the top of the head. Occasionally, one would hover and flutter in front of a spider, terrifying it, I imagine, though not actually going so far as to eat it. These would be the big, brown spiders you see in the fall around the Pacific Northwest. Growing up we always refered to them as wood spiders. The birds seemed to be flocking with black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus.)

I just read that it is rare to see waxwings in W. Washington in winter, http://birdweb.org/birdweb/family_details.aspx?family_id=55, and my most previous encounter with them had been in December of 2007, covering a low tree with berries, near North Seattle Community College, and so had associated them with winter, and was suprised when came across them 2 days in a row in late September of this year. (Though, I did notice in my birdbook that I had seen them in the mid 1990's on Bainbridge Island in June.)

It seems to have been a good year for fruit (and nuts) so will be interesting to see what other wildlife is out foraging.