I’m spoiled, but I only truly appreciated that truth for the first time yesterday morning shortly after sunrise. By living in northern Minnesota my “birding commute” is often as good, or even better, than actual birding outing once I arrive at my intended destination.

Let me explain … in northern Minnesota within minutes of leaving my home by car, I am driving beautiful back roads with little to no traffic. I often get distracted by some sighting and never visit my intended birding destination. Yesterday morning I experience the total opposite. I am visiting my youngest son and his wife in Seattle. Shortly after 6 am I set off by car via I-90 towards a park which I wanted to bird. While traffic could only be described as “light”, it flustered me and I was also not able to look around and enjoy the local sights. Thirty minutes of driving allowed me to reach my destination … a bit stressed and definitely not relaxed. Yup, I love northern Minnesota.

I did have a nice birding experience. While the photographs are not great because I had to point the camera into the sun, I watched a parent Red-Breasted Sapsucker teaching the proper methods for finding food to a juvenile. While we don’t have this kind of woodpecker in Minnesota, it was only a few days ago I watched a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker being taught proper drumming!

One final note … I am looking forward to today’s commute. After a short drive (my son at the wheel), Erik is taking me on a Puffin Cruise in the Puget Sound! This will be my kind of commute!

Red-Headed Sapsucker

When you visit a new area do you ever have a target bird? Two weeks ago I did not even know that Lazuli Buntings existed. However when I signed up for a birding walk at Seattle’s Marymoor Park, I read some eBird reports for that location which mentioned said buntings. While I did not know about “Laz”, the locals nickname for the bird, I did know buntings are normally pretty birds.

I had fun this morning back at Marymoor Park. The Lazulis were definitely present. What have been some of your target birds? (and the area / habitat).

It has been fun to bird in the Seattle area, but has also made me more appreciative for what I have right out the front door at home in northern Minnesota. At home, an hour before sunrise at 4:10 am the dawn song starts with a passion. It’s actually quite noisy in a very pleasant way. Here in Seattle I have to work hard at finding birds … answering these questions:

• Where is a good park with decent habitat?
• What traffic concerns might there be?

However using eBird, Google Maps, and park PDF maps the problems may be solved. My first stop was an old Navy base which is now a park and low income housing unit. Not only was it fun to find this Barn Owl, but I had a conversation which was good for me, and an eye opener. At 6 am I talked for over 20 minutes with a local resident, who now was off the streets but had been homeless for five years. I learned she was a nice person who had been down her luck (my assessment). She never complained of poor circumstances during our conversation. As I said, an eye opener for me.

My next park I found a Killdeer Convention in progress!

Finally a day later we are out of the big city in the Cascades. It’s nice to be back in rural America. Right at our motel I found these beautiful Violet-Green Swallows. It was dry and sunny on the East side of the mountains … wet and foggy on the West (the waterfall photograph).