More Birds and More Sketches

On Tuesday I popped down to the Montlake Fill with Truman in tow, and after five minutes there, he asked if we could go home.  I said no.

At the Main Pond a keen-eyed birder pointed out some dowitchers on the far bank which luckily flew in to the near bank so I could get a halfway decent photo.   Probably a Long-billed Dowitcher, and a nice bird to see, as we haven't had good shorebird activity there for many years.

We also haven't seen coyote activity for a good month, but look who turned up that day:

Truman asked if he could go home again at the midway point.  I said no.

On one of the many thistles at the Fill, I spied a bumblebee:

And over by the sports complex, I managed to get a halfway decent shot of the Cliff Swallow nests.

At this point, because I had taken a long detour from our usual route, Truman was mighty peeved, and demanded to go home.  I said okay.

Though first I snapped this pic of a turtle on the way back to the car.  The turtles have been seen in various spots all over the Fill, digging holes for their eggs.

To wrap up this week, on Wednesday Nicole and I went to Magnuson Park on a clear sunny day in the hope of getting a good view of Mount Rainier -- which we did, except it was mostly shrouded in clouds, so not good for sketching.  We had to make do with a bit of the lake front.

Then we went to the community garden, where Truman asked to go home.

This is one of my favorite plots there, where upturned blue bottles add decoration:

It was a lovely day, though a bit warm, so eventually I did have to take His Highness home, where he got to cool off in his wading pool.  What Truman wants, he gets!