Towheeblog

Male Gadwall at Newbry Park. Northern Rough-winged Swallows. My first salsify flower of the year. Hawthorn. The most beautiful tree in town…for now.  Pink dogwood. Band-tails overhead. Willow, the white fuzzy seeds float through the air like snow flakes. Some fall into Bear Creek and may end up on a habitable mudbank or sandbar.  Others may be carried all the way to the pacific at Gold Beach, or simply disintegrate in the water.  Most float some distance on the slightest breeze.  Today small grass clusters wore a boa of white fuzz as the seeds clung together around the plant;s center. This Wrentit sang to get my attention and then fed along the edge of the berry thicket, ignoring the dogs and myself.  This was at Newbry Park along the Greenway. Here he sings on camera, not such a shy bird after all. This Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was near Emigrant Lake this afternoon and led me around a willow thicket, hardly wanting to pose.