by Thais Bock

Although summer weather in the Pacific Northwest can be unpredictable, the avian population is very predictable in its urge to raise a new generation in as short a time-period as possible.  If the first nesting attempt ends in failure, many birds will try again - often with success. During June and July nesting birds, busy raising young, become very quiet. By late summer the immatures in drab first-year plumage (with voices to match) often are difficult to identify.

A high profile species on Marlake, the resplendent Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), raises young in high nesting boxes placed around the lake's perimeter.  When time for the ducklings to leave the nest, urged on by the mother's call, each one tumbles ten to twelve feet to the ground and is quickly led into nearby vegetation.  Also, the familiar Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) can be seen trailing a large contingent of ducklings.  Occasionally a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) or an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) may visit the lake while swallows feast and feed nestlings on a harvest of flying insects; most commonly seen are Violet-green (Tachycineta thalassina), Tree (Tachycineta bicolor) and Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica).

Three of the most readily seen birds during early summer are Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), Spotted Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) and Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis), the latter identified by white outer-tail feathers.  All are ground feeders choosing nesting sites in low bushes.  Birds singing in dense woods are more difficult to see, especially the nesters in tall trees; these include vireos, flycatchers, warblers - and owls.  However, several species of woodpecker can be observed along the boardwalk as they gather food for the noisy, demanding young, while flying from tree to tree searching for grubs and other insectivorous food.

The most visible, dramatic, and largest one is the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), calling loudly, flying fast, and flinging large pieces of tree bark with abandon in its search for food.  This is also habitat for Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens), Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber) and Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus), the latter with its loud "wicki, wicki" call will also feed on open ground or lawn.
Another woodland species, the small Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) with its cryptic coloration matching the bark of many older trees, can be easily overlooked.

Building a nest under a piece of loose bark on its chosen tree, the creeper becomes almost invisible. Its life is spent hunting food by spiraling downward around tree trunks before flying upwards and starting the cycle again.  At nesting time a pair of Bushtits (Psaltriparus minimus), another small bird traveling in flocks most of the year, builds an elongated, pendant nest (6"to 10" in length) usually in a deciduous tree with a forked branch to hold the fibers – a true work of art. Other small songbirds raising young are both species of chickadees and the nuthatches, the latter with a distinctive "ank ank" call as it works up and down a tree trunk.

The larger Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) with dark orange breast, black head and black-and-white wing pattern, is hard to overlook.  Its song is robin-like only more varied.  With its large conical bill well adapted for seed-cracking, the grosbeak will come to sunflower seed feeders.  It nests in thickets and trees in swampy places as well as orchards or open woods. At the other extreme, in size, is the Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus); by early or mid-August the territorial, feisty male will leave the area and only later in the fall will the female follow with the young.

All of the above-mentioned birds are late spring or early summer nesters, but one species follows a slightly different timetable - the American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis, the official state bird of Washington).  The bright yellow plumage, topped off by a black cap and black wings, is unmistakable during the summer as it flies and feeds in weedy fields and open meadows.  After thistles and other composites have gone to seed the goldfinch will build a nest of woven plant fibers lined with thistledown.

By early fall the southward (reverse) migration of the neo-tropical birds has begun.  Certain species will winter in southern California or Mexico while others will continue as far south as Belize and Costa Rica.  Still others will cross to the East Coast before turning southward to Brazil, Paraguay or Argentina.  Fall migration, stretching out over a longer period of time, is less hurried than the more urgent northward spring push and our resident young birds will continue learning how to survive the critical first year.

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