Winter Birds

The birds from the far north who like to spend Winter down this way have been turning up in larger numbers lately.  In the past two days, Truman and I checked out both Green Lake park and Magnuson Park to see them.

We found a large flock of American Wigeons at Green Lake.

Something startled them (not us!) and they flew pell-mell to the safety of the lake.

Later we met some coots -- Truman seemed concerned about the way they approached the shore right towards him.

Here is a close-up of a non-startled wigeon:

We also saw a lot of Common Mergansers there.

All in all, Truman seemed a tad suspicious about all the activity at Green Lake, and was anxious to go home, as usual.

The next day we went to Magnuson Park, which Truman likes a lot better, as it is generally quieter and less populated.  There were some lovely Buffleheads on the wetland ponds.

Tru was much more content there.

There was a good-sized flock of Common Goldeneyes out on the lake:

We got some lovely sunshine, too!