Getting Wild with Ed Dominguez, Seattle Naturalist - edomino.ed@gmail.com

  March is indeed going out like a lamb!  Sunny weather and warming afternoons suggest...let's go birding!  Meet me in Carkeek Park at 10:00 am Wednesday morning; we will bird the gulch trail by ear, then check out the water birds in the bay.  The owls in Seward Park have been very active so let's go explore Thursday, April 1st (no fooling!) at 7:30 pm.  As always, email me to register! I want to announce that in thanks to so many of you who have joined me on multiple outings I am offering Join Me for Three, the fourth is On Me!   If you have shared three outings, I will comp you a fourth trip at no charge!  I so appreciate all of you and your enthusiasm for the natural world!  Thank you very much!!!

   Spring is here and one of our native shrubs is in full bloom: Osoberry (formerly known as Indian Plum), scientific name Oemlaria cerasiformis.  With small clusters of white flowers and bright yellow-green spring leaves, this shrub is common everywhere in our area.  It is one of our first native plants to flower, and one of the first to set its fruit...fingernail sized purple "plums" in clusters by mid May.  The fruit tastes like cucumber but the pit is large and the flesh thin, so you have to pick several to get anything to eat.  Interestingly, this shrub has male and female flowers on separate plants (dioecious) and the two flowers look quite similar.  There is however, a way to tell them apart...just sniff the flower: female flowers have a cucumber-like odor, male flowers smell like cat urine! My week's schedule is two Birding by Ear outings: Friday in Discovery Park at 9:00 am, and Sunday in Magnussen Park, also 9:00 am.  Friday, March 26th Owl Prowl in Seward Park

 Many of our resident songbirds are vocalizing up a storm and migratory birds are working their way north (some are here already!).  I love to help people learn to recognize their songs and we are entering the best time of year to experience this symphony.  Please join me Wednesday, March 17 at 9:00 am (morning is the richest time to hear birdsongs) at the Union Bay Natural Area (Montlake Fill) to enjoy some "ear candy"!  Also, the owls in Seward Park have very cooperative to our owl prowl guests and I will lead a Prowl Saturday, March 20th starting at 7:30 pm.  Please join me by emailing me to register...cost is $25.00 per person please.  Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Last Saturday's owl prowl was a wildlife bonanza with Barred and Barn Owls making their presence known, three coyote chorus serenades, a beaver munching on a cattail tuber and a muskrat swimming by starlight.  With that in mind, let's try for a repeat experience this Saturday, March 13th in Seward Park.  Meet at 6:30 pm.  I am also leading a birding outing at Magnussen Park Friday, March 12th at 1:30 in the afternoon.  We will differentiate between greater and lesser scaup, look for raptors over the south forest and see what water birds are in the ponds.  Cost is $25.00 per person for each outing, please email me at edomino.ed@gmail.com to register.  Hope to see you this week!    Art courtesy of Jillian Tamaki

  Our local owls have found mates and the females should be incubating eggs as we enter March. Please join me as we uncover the secrets of these unique raptors of the night!                                                  Art courtesy of Jillian Tamaki