More Wood Ducks

Picture of wood ducks and a couple of turtles hanging out on Lake Washington earlier in the week.

Wildlife, Sept/L Herlevi 2014

Wood Duck

Sighting of the day.  I think it's a female Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) hanging out with some Mallards, all of them fattening up on fallen acorns.  I regularly see them in the Montlake Fill, but this is the first I've noticed at Greenlake.  Last day of vacation for me.  Enjoying the nothingness of time.  (Oh, and someone confirmed for me that the other bird is a Yellow-Headed Blackbird.  Uncommon here, but not unheard of.)

Wood Duck, Sept 5/L Herlevi 2014

Greenlake, Sept 5/L Herlevi 2014

Natural History Day

At least it is for me.  Ended up at the beach for most of the day.  Encountered this bird, when I sat on a bench to write.  Best guess is a Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) but isn't known to frequent the Puget Sound Basin.  Juvenile, thick beak, black legs, about the sized of an American Robin, ate seeds, grabbed at vegetation, and snapped at insects.  Solitary.  Hanging out in the grassy dune area away from the water.  Not at all concerned about me, watched it for probably a good half hour.  Other guess would be a Varied Thrush, but beak is too thick, and legs wrong color.  Also, you can see that the chest is beginning to turn yellow.  Haven't found pictures with the line on the back of the head anywhere.  (Common in other parts of the country, but I've never seen one before.  New to me.)