Today we experienced yet another 50 deg F day in the wetland. Seattle, as well as SeaTac Airport, made it all of the way up to 60 degs F yesterday, but Federal Way seems to experience a little less enthusiastic weather. The temperature here averages about six degrees cooler than SeaTac and on some days, when Seattle is basking in sunshine, Federal Way is buried beneath a layer of marine fog that burns off just about the time the sun goes down. As usual, our weather here as been a bit cooler than elsewhere, but it's still so crazy nice that you can't help but stand up and shout "Wow!" Look at the parking lot at West Hylebos Park today. There was not a parking space to be had. I watched as more than one car entered the lot and slipped out the other side, failing to find a slot in which to park. The lucky cars were the ones who pulled in just as someone else was pulling out. I wonder if the cars that failed to find parking at the park, parked in the metro lot down the street and walked back. The park trail was full of people from the very young to the very old and everywhere in between. I saw a lot of baby strollers and even a little red wagon.
Who could blame them when Marlake looked like this!
Sadly, Marlake also looked like this. There's some kind of scum on the surface of the water, especially in the area of the logs at the north end of the lake and the area in front of the bench at the south end of the lake. I don't know what this scum is, but it has me very concerned. The ducks swim through it and, of course, this is where the frogs lay their eggs. I hope it dissipates before breeding season.
Which seems to be now, if you ask the mallards. They have certainly paired up and I have to admit to having witnessed rather risque behavior on Marlake today. I only saw a couple of mallard pairs on Brooklake, unlike the huge numbers I saw there several days ago, but counted at least six pairs of mallards on Marlake, mostly tucked away in the reeds near the Marckyx bench on the far side of the lake.
Scott Buck and his family were working very hard at trying to clear the fallen trees on the trail behind Marlake. I could hear the sound of busy chainsaws working away back there. But, the mallards didn't seem to mind the commotion.
Neither did the lone female bufflehead that's been hanging around in Marlake. I hope she finds a mate. I haven't seen any males around yet.
The hooded-merganser is also hanging around Marlake. The merganser hasn't found a mate either, and can often be seen swimming side by side with the bufflehead. Two lonely singles looking for mates. Keep your fingers crossed! It would be so much fun to see bufflehead and merganser ducklings swimming around the lake in addition to the usual mallards.
Robins....
and chestnut-sided chickadees are hanging around the meadow area, in addition to the dark-eyed juncos, spotted towhees, and ruby-crowned kinglets.
I'd just entered the park and was slowly creeping my way down the short side of the loop trail, carefully looking for snakes, when two ladies stopped me and asked me if I'd seen the eagle. I told them that I had seen the eagle two days ago, along with a sharp-shinned hawk, a red-tailed hawk, and an unidentified hawk. No, they said, we mean today. They said there was a bald eagle sitting in the top of a bare tree to the east of the Deep Sinks. Cool, I thought, the eagle is back! I didn't expect to see it though. Usually, when people tell me they've seen something, it's long gone by the time I get over to where they made their sighting. That's the nature of the park. Nobody has their feet super-glued to the turf, or the tree in this case. Everything is alive and free to move at will. I was very excited to actually spot the eagle and get a single shot off with my camera before the eagle decided to fly away. That's the way wildlife photography is....no second chances. You have a split second to get the shot and then it's gone. Still, two eagle sightings in West Hylebos Park in three days. That's very exciting! We used to have a pair of eagles that nested in the park. We saw them for four years straight, then they disappeared. I hope this handsome fellow finds a mate and decides to stay. Wouldn't that be exciting!
I haven't spotted any frogs, salamanders, snakes, rabbits, or amphibian eggs yet. I can hear frogs croaking, but haven't been able to spot them. Scott says he's seen a couple of rabbits recently, but nowhere near the dozens we'll be seeing by mid-summer. Any time now.....any time....
Teri I. Lenfest
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