Hi Tweets,

Lost Lagoon in the early morning rain and mist. There's lots happening at
the Lagoon now the warm air's (finally) moving in, Violet-green Swallows
low over the Lagoon, Ruby-crowned Kinglets dripping from the trees, singing
male Yellow-rumped Warblers, mostly. Once again knocked out by the
*gorgeous* coloring and pattern of the male Violet-green Swallow (close-up
on four dudes showing it off on a wire over the bus loop). Varied Thrushes
and Fox Sparrows singing (and what's more unexpected than finding a mucky
brown sparrow at the end of *that* song's trail?), the courting siskins'
whine and splutter (always make me think the males sing
"Marrymemarrymemarrymemarrymemarryme, pleeeaaase? Pleeeeaaase?"), the trees
at the W end of the Lagoon awash in Ruby-crowned Kinglets, their songs not
quite yet reaching the ostentatious volume that floods the northern forests
in May and June. And a real peewee speedo male Black Merlin in
pseudosongbird flight was in among the swallows before the first alarm
notes came out but he was just passing through, strafing them, I guess, for
the sheer early April hell of it. Yep, lots going on now.



Conditions: temp: 15 Celsius; wind: calm to SE 5 km/hr; barom: low, steady;
cloud: low thick overcast, occasionally reaching ground level, visibility
from 3-4 km occasionally to a few hundred meters; precip: intermittent
light rain and mist.


Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 4
Trumpeter Swan 1 (I)
Mute Swan 8 (I) 3 pair
Canada Goose 68
Wood Duck 6 4m 3f, 2 pair
Mallard 450
Northern Shoveler 1 m
American Wigeon 9 5m 4f, 3 pair
Canvasback 9 5f 4m
Ring-necked Duck 6 4m 2f
Greater Scaup 65
Lesser Scaup 1,805
Common Goldeneye 15 8m 7f
Barrow's Goldeneye 9 5m 4f
Bufflehead 7 4m 3f
Hooded Merganser 3 1 pair, 1 f imm
Common Merganser 3 1m 2f, 1 pair
Ruddy Duck 1 m, Basic
Merlin 1 1m 'Black' in undulant flight
American Coot 28 (18 in tight flock; migrants?)
Mew Gull 2 2 Alt
California Gull 2 2 Alt (*beauty*!)
Glaucous-winged Gull 23 18a 5 im
Western X Gl.-winged 2 2a
Rock Dove 17
Violet-green Swallow 18
Northwestern Crow 14 2 carrying nest material
Common Raven 1
Black-capped Chickadee 12 5m in song
Chestnut-backed Chickadee 10
Bushtit 12
Winter Wren 5 5m in song
Golden-crowned Kinglet 6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 68 12m in song
American Robin 6 1m in song
Varied Thrush 8
European Starling 12 3 carrying nest material
Yellow-rumped Warbler* 9
Spotted Towhee 5 3f in song, 2f
Fox Sparrow 6 all 'Sooty', 4m in song
Song Sparrow 18 8m in song
White-crowned Sparrow 1 Alt
Dark-eyed Junco 16 6m in song, 1m 'Cismontanus'
Red-winged Blackbird 10 5m 5f, 4f in 2 territories
House Finch 11 6m in song
Pine Siskin** 13 2m in display flight
House Sparrow 4 3f 1m

47 sp. 1 hybrid.

*
3m in song; 3m Def Alt Aud, 2f Myrt, 2m Myrt in Pre-Alt molt.

**
several PISI pairs have nested in the large firs at the W end of the Lagoon
in previous years.

Grey Squirrel (grey): 4
Grey Squirrel (black): 1
Raccoon: 0 (likely still abed)

Dog (leashed) 3
Dog (unleashed) 2
Harassment Incidents 2



Cheers

Michael Price The only alien planet is Earth.
Vancouver BC Canada
mprice at mindlink.net - J. G. Ballard