A Montlake Filled Weekend, Part 2: Sunday

On Sunday morning I returned to the Montlake Fill, hoping to get one more chance at a photo of the hummingbird mother feeding a youngster out of the nest.  The light was better, and while there were still twigs in the way, this time I managed to get a couple of decent shots.  Hurrah!

As I and a small group of birders were admiring the hummingbirds, a coyote turned up.

For the next half hour or so, as I made my way around the Loop Trail, I kept spotting the coyote, who was not terribly shy of people, at times getting within ten feet or so before loping off.

I kept Truman in his stroller.  I don't think he even noticed the wild canine nearby.

Here's a short video -- the coyote was about fifteen feet away at the time:

My original plan had been to walk around the trail, taking maybe an hour, and then go up to the campus to do some sketching.  But then I ran into Connie, who was in a chatty mood, and we wound up taking three hours to make our way around, stopping to sit on our camp stools to watch birds and chat here and there.

As we approached the nest platform used last year by the Ospreys, I asked her, "Is this about the time when the Ospreys might return?"   Connie said it was, but no one had reported any at the Fill yet.  Five minutes later, as we sat on a bench by the platform, an Osprey flew in.

Good timing!  From looking at my photos from last year, I don't believe this is either of the parents.  Perhaps it is one of their youngsters, all grown up and looking for a mate?  We shall just have to wait and see.

Further along the trail, we found more signs of Spring:  here is a Bushtit nest, and that little bird on the twig is in fact, a Bushtit.  They kindly obliged in my quest for a photo by always perching on the twig before flying into the nest.

Crows were also busy gathering nest material, and chasing off any intruders.  Here is a crow chasing off a Red-tailed Hawk:

And chasing off a Bald Eagle:

After about two hours of birding and chatting, I realized that my plan to go sketching on campus was doomed.  So I got in two very quick sketches while we were sitting around:

These took around ten minutes each.

What a lovely way to spend a rare, sunny Sunday.