No I’m not talking about Snowbirders returning from Arizona, though I’m sure there are plenty of those as well. Spring has fully arrived and with Spring time weather we get bird migration! While the Puget Sound area may not be a hot bed for migration bird viewing we still get our spring and fall stop overs. With some sunny weather we headed down to the Willow Creek Fish Hatchery and the Edmonds Marsh to enjoy the day and see what birds would be out. Many of the usual suspects were enjoying the sun but we were happy to find a visitor likely just stopping by on the way to Canada to nest.
While White-throated Sparrows can be seen year round near the Oregon coast they generally only swing through the Puget Sound area during migration. There were two hiding in the bushes at the Willow Creek Fish Hatchery. They did there best to stay hidden but they sang loud and clear. Luckily we were able to get one photo when one popped out for a brief moment though they still did their best to stay camouflaged in some sticks. They have a unique song that once I heard it a few times I could pick them out from all the other bird sounds which helped to track their location.
White-throated Sparrows have the obvious white throat with yellow lore, but the stripes on their head can be white or tan. As you can see from the photo this one was white striped. An interesting fact is that while not related to the Dark-eyed Junco, they on occasion mate with them creating greyish looking offspring.
Of course we didn’t only see the White-throated Sparrow on this day, there were our regular Song Sparrows, Junco’s, Starlings and Tree Swallows all out and about. It is nice to see the Tree Swallows using the bird boxes out at the marsh.
Useful Links and Info:
- Read our last post about our trip to the National Parks of Southern Utah!
- Check out all our other birding and nature adventures here.
- One of the biggest migration hot spots in the Spring to visit is the Texas Coast where all the birds crossing the Gulf of Mexico have to stop and rest. And while most birds migrate at night there is a spot just outside LA where you can see them migrating during the day.
- We recommend a good long sleeve hiking shirt to protect against the sun that stays dry. Here are men’s and women’s options.
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- Most of these shots were taken with the Sony a7 along with the Sony FE 200-600mm lens.
- Always bring bug spray and sun screen when birding!
