A day at Tiger Mountain

Today we went birdwatching at Tiger Mountain. When we got there we started on the hiking trail. My brother is into reptiles and amphibians, so he was carefully rolling over logs looking for Salamanders or Newts or stuff like that. Almost right when we started hiking he found a Red-backed Salamander. He put it into a catching cage to look at it without touching it. He then he let it go back into its exact location. Not long after that, he found a Ensatina which is a small Salamander. It had gold colored legs and a slippery body. Another interesting thing is that it breaths entirely through its skin and has evolved to not have lungs.

Ensatina

Then we heard Brown Creepers calling. We looked around trying to find them and there they were. On a mossy tree we observed three Brown Creepers. Along with the Brown Creepers were Chestnut-Backed and Black-Capped chickadees and some Ruby-Crowned Kinglets. They were all being very loud! After that we spotted a Hairy woodpecker. It was on a stump pecking around. People often get Hairy Woodpeckers mixed up with Downy Woodpeckers. Hairy Woodpeckers are bigger and have longer bills. We also heard some Pileated Woodpeckers, but unfortunately did not see them. I also heard a Spotted Towhee calling. They sound very whiney and screechy.  

We ended up finding another Red-Backed Salamander.

Red-backed Salamander

As we walked by a stream my brother yelled "mole, mole!" and a mole was swimming across the stream. The mole started digging into the ground quickly. The mole dug so fast it even pushed a worm out of his home! It could have been a Coastal Mole or a Townsend's     Mole, they both look very similar. We think it was a Coastal Mole because of the habitat it was in. We managed to get a video of it:  

Later, when we took the trail that led us to the lake on Tiger Mountain, my brother flipped over a log and found next to a giant slug a cluster of small white eggs. Once we got to the lake I saw three Buffleheads and two Double-Crested Cormorants. The Buffleheads were diving (probably looking for a snack) while the Cormorants were peacefully riding the water. After I spotted them we heard a Pacific Wren calling. We went through a lot of brush we finally saw the small wren. We played a Pacific Wrens song and called the wren in. The wren got very territorial and came within two feet of us! The Wren got very upset when he could not find the trespasser Wren. We had a great time and found awesome birds!