Hi - I was out this weekend trying to find new records for Gene's Breeding
Bird Atlas - had a pretty successful morning and wanted to relay this in
case anyone wants to go looking:

There is a large Great Blue Heron rookery just north of Bothell way east of
73rd on Swamp Creek. From the north end of the park and ride there, you can
see (and hear) 8-10 large nests, most occupied and with young. Easiest way
to get there from the west is to turn left from Bothell Way onto 73rd (or is
it 74th? - at the light) then turn right between the police station and the
fire station and head back to the park & ride. (Gene, this is a new
breeding record for our 1/4; I'll include it when I send you the rest I'm
collecting).

Of course there were the usual suspects at Sammamish Slough. Rock doves
nesting under the 68th St. bridge (boy do they have BIG nests) and a colony
of cliff swallows. Looking down from the bridge you can enjoy the sight of
the red-winged blackbirds defending their nests (saw two drive off a juv.
R-T hawk) and mallard chicks wandering around in the reeds, without
disturbing the birds.

Juanita Bay Park has a wide variety of nesting species, easily observable
from safe (from the bird's perspective) locations. At the end of the SW
boardwalk, you can see a pied-billed grebe nest or two, several red-winged
blackbird nests, a house finch nest (in some ivy on a tree trunk) and barn
and tree swallows swooping around as though they were nesting nearby. In
that vicinity also saw a yellowthroat singing away and a bald eagle on its
usual perch overlooking Lake Washington.

On the main boardwalk in the pond behind the beaver dam are more nesting
pied-billed grebes, more blackbird and marsh wren nests, holes in the tall
snag in the center of the marsh had tree swallows going in and out, and barn
swallows appeared to be nesting in the reeds. There were also some
suspicious pairs of waterfowl loitering about, including a pair of
blue-winged teal, and several pairs of mallards, gadwall, and Canada geese.

A bit north on the boardwalk is the location where you can peer through the
trees at the green heron nest. Just a few steps north of that on the same
side (west) is an occupied Anna's hummingbird nest made of lichen on a stick
not three feet from the railing of the boardwalk. You will seldom get a
better view!! And on the other side in about the same location is a large
bushtit nest.

Gene, I assume you have pretty good breeding records for Juanita Bay Park
(keeping in mind that it occupies two separate TR1/4's). Let me know if any
of this is unusual or if you have all this already.

Finally I have two questions: If a Western Screech-owl is hooting around
your house at night this time of year, is it likely to be breeding nearby
(we have lots of tall trees around)? Second, I saw a Townsend's Warbler in
our yard this morning. Isn't it a bit late in the year for them to be at
this elevation? Any other lowland sightings this Spring? Or maybe it's
normal for a few to be still hanging about. I also have many of the same
questions about bushtit nests as the earlier posting, so look forward to the
replies.

Teresa Michelsen
temi461 at ecy.wa.gov
Inglewood