(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Daily Bucket:Friday Sequence, A walk with W&B, Mr. W&B, Ms. JG and me at the Arboretum. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-01-20 After the four of us had gone on several outings together, W&B shared with me her participation in a group where photos and stories of birds and animals and much else were shared. She thought my photos would be of interest to the group. In September 2020, I joined the Daily Bucket and soon joined in Dawn Chorus. The four of us have continued a friendship and enjoy our outings together. Each of us has a strength that benefits our outings. W&B has an acute ear for bird song, Mr. W&B has an eagle’s eye, Ms. JG is a spotter and sidekick, and I love taking photos. I invite you to join us as we take a walk at the Washington Park Arboretum on a sunny winter day in Seattle. The Seattle area with the Arboretum right in the middle of the map. Washington Park Arboretum. The red numbers will be explained in the text. We had just gotten out of our cars, greeted each other, and started our walk when we heard a kekking vocalization. We all knew what that was — a Cooper’s Hawk. I whipped my camera out and got a photo of her band ID between some branches. click here to see the band ID more closely. Orange is a female banded on the right leg. Look for #1 on map above. I was a happy camper, and would report this to the Urban Raptor Conservancy, the group where I volunteer to help those that band the Coops. We continued walking the main path of the Arboretum, looking at its impressive variety of trees and bushes, when an unleashed canine crossed the path right in front of us and wandered into the nearby brush. With a start like this, we couldn’t imagine what else we would see. It was a mini sequence. OK. You can fan your tail. But show me the Urban Raptor Conservancy ID band, not the Federal band. I know you want to find your mate, but please show me the band. After walking a trail that looped around, we found the same Coop in another part of the Arboretum. It not only kept preening, but finally showed me the band. It was the same female we had seen earlier, just moved to a different location, which was close to her nest of last year. Our walk was charmed by this Wood Duck. In the sunny weather, we got a reflection. Mr. W&B’s sharp eyes spotted this Wilson’s Snipe hidden in the marsh grasses. We all enjoyed watching it through our binoculars. #3 on the map. This photo was taken by W&B. This will be the featured guest in a future Sequence Friday. Did the Cormorant actually get this large fish down its throat? #4 on the map. This photo was also taken by W&B. Our trips don’t end up all birds. This beaver made a short appearance before diving and disappearing. Brown Creepers blend in so well to their habitat. We all saw a flash of brown heading for a tree and found this as we focused our binoculars. #5 on map. See all of those ducks in the middle of the water? #6 on map. With a 500mm lens and some cropping, you can now identify some of them. There are both Canvasbacks and American Wigeons. Want to see them closer? A Hooded Merganser with a fish more fitting its size. want to see the fish? Not to be outdone, the female Hooded Merganser gets some lunch, too. Walking back on the floating pathway, we saw another Cormorant. It not only has sashimi, but some alternate to seaweed salad. Look on the map at the beginning for #7. The lead photo of a Mandarin Duck. After seeing the Cormorants, we talked to another couple with binoculars (get the connection to who we talk to?). They told us they had seen an uncommon duck with some others and gave us the location. As we returned to that location, we all spotted the lineup of ducks on a log and saw the Mandarin, napping, but with an eye opening and closing as it kept watch. Now for our second mini sequence of the Bucket. Male Mallard approaches a ready female. As he mounts her, she is much lower in the water. Just her head is showing. I don’t think this is how it’s supposed to go. Tangled up. Not the ending I think was planned. There must be a learning curve to mating. :) Another Wood Duck graced us as we continued our walk. Two Green-winged Teal shared a log and one was getting a jump on grooming. One had an itch to attend to in its grooming practice. It’s not uncommon to find Mallards with different coloring. They are mixed-breed ducks with a mix of some other duck. This last shot shows three species of ducks that few people see together, let alone separately, in the same day and same place. Mandarin with female Mallard, Wood Duck male and female, male Mallard and male Wood Duck. #8 on the map. Here’s a spreadsheet that W&B created for the birds and animals we saw on our walk. There are some in-person friendships as well as virtual ones in the Bucket group. I feel that my friendship with Appy is real, even though we have never met in person. I hope that others in this group can find a time to meet like Appy and Sage, Funning Forrest and 2n10, and others. Now it’s time for you to chime in. Share walks you’ve taken, times you have met others that ‘clicked,’ unusual birds you have seen that are uncommon in your area or just share the weather. We are looking forward to hearing from each of you. 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