This past week has been very interesting in that a number of wildlife
friends have shown up for the first time this winter. On 11/30 a single
female Common Goldeneye was back at Larsen L.(in Bellevue along 148th Ave.
SE just so. of Main St). I have seen this single COGO for each of the past
3-4 winters. It is almost always alone, maybe 3-4 times during the winter
(Dec.-Feb.) a male COGO will be seen with it. On Dec. 4 on a cold but
sunny & calm morning at 0900 a river otter was seen along the south shore
of Larsen L. I watched it for about 10 minutes. This otter has been
showing up at the lake every winter for the past 4 years. It usually first
appears in Nov. & leaves in Feb. It was nice to see that it was back.
Also a bird has been roosting overnight in one of the screened roof vent
holes under the eaves. We have seen it for 4 nights in a row. Last winter
I reported a Bewick's Wren that roosted every night from Dec to Mar in a
vent hole. This latest one I have only been able to see the tail sticking
down from the hole. Using a flashlight I have determined that it is not a
Bewick's Wren this time. I think it is one of the two chickadees, CBCH or
BCCH. I cannot make out the coloring of the back. We have both chickadees
resident in our backyard.

For the first time ever, a Bewick's Wren has been feeding at one of our
suet feeders. I guess it saw all the other birds feeding there & decided
to try it. I am curious as to whether the chickadee(?) or Bewick's Wren
behaviors are unusual. Have others observed similar behavior?

Hugh Jennings
Bellevue, WA
gfjc96a at prodigy.com