THere were about 15 mallards on the pond, most of them on and around the turtle raft, where it is more protected and quiet. This one was out in the open section, however, and feeding quickly, swinging his beak from side to side filtering out aquatic seeds and other items to feed on.

When I arrived at FWG in late morning, it was alive with birds. Big flocks of golden-crowned and ruby-crowned kinglets, robins, goldfinches, starlings, cedar waxwings (mostly juvenile birds), and yellow-rumped warblers were moving quickly around the garden. They were joined by lesser numbers of northern flickers, chipping sparrows, white-throated, white-crowned and song sparrows. Also seen were cardinals, catbirds, chickadees, white-breasted nuthatch, hairy woodpecker, blue jays, and crows. When I returned for a short time about 3 p.m., the garden was almost silent.