Autumn Colors and Pesky Birds

Truman and I went out quite a bit the past week thanks to cooperative weather.  First, we visited the Montlake Fill to check out the autumn foliage there:

The next day we just strolled around the neighborhood, where I picked up some chestnut detritus and did a little watercolor illustration of it:

The next day we went out with Nicole to Magnuson Park to do some sketching.  The mountain was out!

I took Tru for a short walk there, and he posed ever so nicely against the autumn foliage:

Then I sketched some big piles'o'rocks at the park:

Back home, I practiced leaf painting with this gorgeous maple:

I couldn't quit get the red color right, but am happy with the results nonetheless.

On Friday I joined the Seattle Urban Sketchers at Swanson's Nursery, where they had scarecrow displays:

Our big day was Saturday, when Truman and I joined Nicole and Tina for a visit to the Skagit Valley.  We left at 9am and got back at 4:30pm.  I spent all Sunday recovering.

We started at Wylie Slough off Fir Island Road, where it was too foggy to see much.

We did get a few shorebirds, like these dowitchers, close enough to view.

And there were lots of yellowlegs as well.

The fog started to lift just as we headed back to the car.  I found out later that a Black Phoebe, a rare visitor to our parts, was spotted at this same place a short while after we left.  Sigh.  That would have been a Life Bird for me.

 Next we stopped at the Hayton Farms reserve to look for Snow Geese.  We found a flock sitting way out on the water (at the horizon in this photo), too far for pics.  We also had a few dozen fly overhead, again, too far for photos. 

We did get large flocks of Dunlin (a shorebird) here.

Later, I found out that a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, a rare visitor to these parts, had been spotted at this location a short while before we arrived, and then it vanished.  Sigh.  That would have been a Life Bird for me.

Next, we drove the twenty miles or so up to the tiny town of Edison for a lunch break.  Along the way, we noticed this Great Blue Heron standing sentinel:

Edison, WA is the birthplace of journalist Edward R. Murrow.  We did a little shopping here and ate our lunch.  Truman was welcomed everywhere we went.

Then we headed back south via a different road that wound around Padilla Bay.  We stopped at Bayview State Park for some sketching.

Our last stop was the town of La Conner, where we parked by a broken-down warehouse next to the marina.  We did more sketches there before heading back to Seattle.

On Sunday I had planned to go to the Montlake Fill to join Connie for the monthly bird count, but there was dense fog in my neighborhood that morning, and as it is hard to see birds in fog, I opted to stay home.  Later, I found out that an American Tree Sparrow, a rare visitor to these parts, had been seen by Connie at the Fill that morning.

What can I say...SIGH!!!!!!!  Actually, at this point, I'm feeling more like a good old  DAGNABBIT!!!!!   That would have been a Life Bird for me.

Maybe I'll go down to the Fill today.  You never know!