The Marsh Project Week #8

Compared to earlier this week, when it was freezing all day, this afternoon was gorgeous.  It had warmed up, and the sun was shining.  The Mom of No had spent a substantial amount of time this past week sampling Girl Scout cookies, and I was feeling a bit sluggish and in need of a walk and some time with nature.

I had high hopes for observations, since the weather was so perfect (except for a little bit of wind).  The hike, however, started slow- I saw an osprey, with a fish, perched on top of a tree.  I saw some ducks on the water.  Other than that, it was quiet.

As I made my way to the blind, I passed a family with a young child.  The child had dropped the trail map in the water, and was upset about it.  His mom was soothing him, reassuring him that they could easily get another, and telling him that they needed to pack it out so that they didn't litter Nature's house.

Bless you, lady.  Bless you.

Some turtles were out, soaking up some of the sun.  I could hear birds rustling around in the reeds, and I sat for awhile where I saw the marsh wren last week. The day after I saw the marsh wren, I had gone back and seen a winter wren in the same spot, but both wrens were apparently about other business this day.

After sitting quietly for several minutes, a yellow-bellied sapsucker paid a visit to the marsh, and soon after that, a ladder-backed woodpecker.  A pair of gadwalls swam in the distance, poking around in the vegetation along the waterline.  I could hear a couple of great blue herons squawking about something in the distance.  I wasn't the only one who had the idea of a hike; the blind was getting as many human visitors as it was critters.

ladder-backed woodpecker

Eventually, I moved on.  I was a bit disappointed since I had been expecting to see more than I had.  However, as is often the case, nature had surprises waiting for me as I got closer to my car: a wonderful western ribbon snake sunning on a log, and a opossum climbing a tree.

Seen on the trail today: Osprey, ruby-crowned kinglet, cardinals, sparrows, turtles (possibly red-eared slider), gadwall, mallards, ladder-backed woodpecker, yellow-bellied sapsucker,  common goldeneye, more sparrows, diamondback water snake (deceased), armadillos, western ribbon snake, and an opossum.