Blog Post #5: Birding by the Beach

     Going to the Meadowdale Beach trail was probably my favorite field trip so far. Mostly because the park itself is already really important to me personally and I kind of consider it a second home, but also because it felt like the first time we could examine more mammals and non-insects outside of our texts.

     Definitely the most interesting thing I learned about birds on the field trip, and honestly just an interesting activity in itself was how many different species one can identify from call/song alone. Something about being able to study and thoroughly understand more about an entire location's bird population without ever seeing one was fascinating to me.

     One thing I learned and that stuck with me was truly how many species can occupy even a single tree, let alone an entire ecosystem. It really speaks to how important and impacting they are to an entire ecosystem, because different species have to exist in so many different niches alongside each other.

     The Golden Crown Kinglet was one interesting species to me. I was not able to photograph it sadly, but some of its key characteristics are that they tend to dwell and forage in shrubs, they are usually one of the smallest fully grown species in the PNW, and they have a bright yellow crown atop its head as well as a grey/yellow body.