Here and There

We start the Week In Review with Seattle, as usual, where the Hounds and I took our usual walks to our usual places--neighborhood loop (Monday), Magnuson Park (Tuesday), and the Montlake Fill (Wednesday).

At the Fill of late, I have been Plagued by Pipits.  American Pipits are small songbirds with sort of brownish/buffy/streaky coloring who like to stride about meadows a lot where it is hard to see them.  They migrate through the Puget Sound area in Spring and Autumn.  I've seen them only a few times over the ten (!) years I've been birding.  For the past three weeks, whenever I've visited the Fill, there are notes on the Bird Sighting Kiosk about Pipit sightings there the day before.  And every time, I've missed them.  They were taunting me.

Until Wednesday, that is.

I would have missed them that day, too, if I hadn't said to another birder, "I never see the pipits", and if he hadn't pointed to a spot far away in the meadow and replied, 'There are some out there right now."

Did I mention that they are small and brownish and like to stride around on the ground, where it is hard to see them?  Oh, well.  At least I am no longer plagued.

Also, the Osprey are back!  This is Lacey, the female.  The male (Chester) has also been seen hanging about.

And here is a common, garden-variety American Robin:

We had four or so days in a row of lovely sunshine and WARM weather last week, so naturally I left.  Well, I waited until the last day of sunshine, Thursday, after which it got cloudy and a little drizzly again but I didn't care because I was in Richland where it was SUNNY.

I've been visiting the family and hanging out with friends in SUNNY Richland.  At Mom's house, this Wood Duck turned up in her front-yard sycamore tree one morning, perched about 15 feet high.  Sweet!

On Friday I took the Hounds to Leslie Groves Park along the Columbia River, where Truman enjoyed wading -- he really seemed to like the sandy bottom (as opposed to the pebbly stuff we get in Seattle), and he spent lots more time wading than he typically does.

Pippin was content to investigate the shore.

I did a little sketching there.

On Saturday we took a tour of the Uptown Shopping Center, which opened in 1949.  The murals are a recent addition, though they certainly capture the mid-century modern feel of the place, which has steadfastly resisted modernization all these years.

On Sunday I took the Hounds to Howard Amon Park along the Columbia River, and we walked a mile or so down to the marina.  I did not go birding in Richland, but I did see this lovely Eurasian Collared Dove--they are quite common in the area.

And I did another sketch:

And I took the Hounds down to the shore again -- and this time Pippin actually tried wading a little bit:

Though mostly he preferred the beach.

Today we are going for another walk and maybe I can fit in another sketch or two.  We shall see!