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WOW! What a gorgeous day.

I didn't have any special plans for today when I woke up. I was getting the RV out of storage and bringing it back to the house and then I was going for a bike ride along the TK Coastal Trail. I hadn't been riding yet this year and I enjoy biking the different trails around town.

Ruth wasn't going on the bike ride. She's been doing some heavy studying for about a month now. In three weeks she takes the state exam for being a licensed Vet Tech in Alaska.

My first stop was West Chester Lagoon Nature Trail. The trail is rough and not well maintained. That's what I like about it. It's not crowded because of the condition it's in. Right off the bat I spotted a European Starling taking a bath. It's listed as rare for this area, but it's being seen more and more the last few years. A Mew Gull landed and it flew off, but I got a few shots of it first.

I didn't have to take a step when I saw Mr. & Mrs. Greater Scaup. They were keeping their distance, but my zoom brought them closer.

Right up the trail a female Downy Woodpecker has having a feast. It's listed as uncommon for south coastal Alaska. It didn't care that I was there about 15 feet away, so I took a bunch of pix's. I figured I was having a good day for the amateur I am.

Further upstream I spotted Mr. & Mrs. American Wigeon. She was bathing and he was taking a nap. Yup, their Americans. Where's the TV?

Mew Gulls were every where's. They were even in the spruce trees. Not a lot of people like gulls. I do. I don't know if it's their whiteness or how aggressive they get protecting their nest and young. They even adopt.

It was a gorgeous day. I did more photography and birding than biking, but I couldn't help myself. The weather is suppose to be awesome all week. Yahoo!!!

Comments

Meggie said…
Looks like you had yourself quite a day, Dave. Isn't it funny how they come upon us every now and then when we least expect it...makes them even more precious. Thanks for sharing the sites.
Dave Dorsey said…
I did Meggie and Thanks!
robin andrea said…
You saw so many birds on one hike! That's grand. How lucky to be surrounded by so much wild life.

Hope Ruth does well on her Vet Tech exam.
RuthieJ said…
Good luck to Ruth on her upcoming exam.

I hope your starling population doesn't continue to increase--I wish they were rarer in this area!
Marvin said…
Hey, it sounds as if you got plenty of exercise for your shutter button finger -- really gave it a good workout.

Glad you had a great day. You deserve a few of those.

Good luck to Ruth on her exam. I'm not sure if I could study in a formal way anymore. My study habits were never all that impressive and what few study skills I had have surely atrophied.

Marvin @ Nature in the Ozarks
Dave Dorsey said…
Robin - it was a good ride/hike. I'll tell her.

Ruthie - It's off to a slow start. I've heard of some of the problems outside. I'll tell her.

mArvin - Thanks. She has better study habits then I ever had.