Subject: Re: Not for raptophobes
Date: Jun 29 16:55:45 1995
From: James West - jdwest at u.washington.edu


Yes, it is amazing what most people don't see. I was at a lunch meeting a
couple of years ago in the UW faculty club, which is tucked in amongst
mature trees on the steep edge of the campus, when the nearby window
showcased a little group of passerines going about their business. A
colleague was stunned by their beauty and delicacy, exclaimed that he had
never seen such unusual little birds before and asked if they weren't
something exotic. The colleague has spent most of his 60+ years in the
Seattle, with a few in Illinois and a few in DC. The birds were....
Bushtits. Glad he got to notice them eventually, and had the good taste to
admire them.

On Thu, 29 Jun 1995, Mike Patrick wrote:

> I'll venture a recent urban raptor observation:
>
> Site: North of the UW Athletic Fields, near the Montlake Fill.
> Time: ~12:50
> Date: Yesterday
> I was talking with a non-birder, to whom I pointed out an immature Bald Eagle
> carrying a good sized fish flying in a north-westerly direction. Of course, an
> American Crow was busy harassing the kid. From the south of us, an adult Bald
> Eagle came into view heading strait for the youngster (ahhh, I say to myself,
> a great show for a non-birder to get initiated...). They meet, do about half
> of a circle, and the youngster drops lunch (anyone at the Montlake Fill get
> knocked out yesterday?). The adult turned around and headed straight back
> where it came from; in the process of which it picked up it's own crow who
> was just about dancing on its back.
>
> One of the reasons I like to share this sort of thing was made clear to me by
> the reaction of my friend. He was quite struck by what he saw (no, the fish
> did not land on his head). He said that in three years of living in the Seattle
> area he had not seen an eagle... I just love to see people's eyes light up
> when they realize all the exciting stuff that's out there :-)
>
> --
> Michael Patrick
> University of Washington Medical Center
> Department of Radiation Oncology, RC-08
> 1959 NE Pacific St.
> Seattle, WA. 98195
> mike at radonc.washington.edu
> (206) 548-4536
>

James West