Bellingham - Pacific North West, Day 3

Day 3 in Bellingham and the rain had refused to go away, so we headed as a group to Tennant Lake. On arrival Helen got a migraine and had to sit in the car until the visual disturbances had died down. I flitted from the car to the edge of the wildlife area. One bird was calling loudly then flying into cover and repeating, I got close enough to take a snap but I can't resolve as to whether or not it is either a House Wren or a Winter Wren, I suspect the former:















Helen wasn't well enough to stay out so we turned round and took her back to the house, whilst we all headed out to Squires Lake in Whatcom County. Helen's sister and I decided to head round the lake while her husband and son did a shorter walk to a scenic overlook. On the way round Alison decided we should take a quick loop to see the Beaver Ponds. We finally gave up looking after a 30-minute hike to the top of and along the crest of the hill, descending to complete the original 1-mile loop in around an hour overall!

Along the way we encountered this Black-headed Grosbeak:

It was very dark and damp in the woodland on our impromptu trail and around the lake itself, making photography tricky. We spotted and snapped this Wilson's Warbler:















On the lake itself this Swamp Sparrow was hopping agilely from lily pad to lily pad browsing for insects, and seem completely at home, and also very tricky to capture on camera:


















We also saw a Pileated Woodpecker and an unusual type of bird of prey, probably a shrike but I can't be sure as it moved so very quickly out of view.

Back at the house Helen was recovering and it had stopped raining for a bit, allowing this pair of House Finch into the garden to forage for food:














It appears Bellingham is being over-run by a significant growth in the population of Grey Squirrels, this black morph was a regular visitor:














There were local news reports of squirrels attacking humans in their search for food!